OXNARD : Council to Consider Farmland Project

A long-term plan to develop 737 acres of farmland in northeast Oxnard is scheduled to be considered Tuesday evening by the Oxnard City Council.

The Northeast Community Specific Plan, approved last month by the city’s Planning Commission, calls for the construction of 3,075 housing units on 496 acres and commercial, office and research uses on 112 acres. The area is also the site of the newly constructed St. John’s Regional Medical Center.

Much of the planning area, owned by 10 individual property owners, is outside the Oxnard city limits but would be annexed to the city before development could begin.

The plan was approved after an agreement was reached between three school districts and the property owners guaranteeing the districts enough fees to build three schools in the plan area. Oxnard also struck an innovative deal with the school districts that would provide the the use of the school grounds as parks.

The extensive plan, which has been under study for more than three years, regulates building design and specifies how public areas will be landscaped. Separate mixed-use “villages” will be developed in the plan area.

The plan also calls for a blend of housing prices, requiring 10% of all housing to be affordable for low-income residents and another 10% constructed for high-income residents.

Most interest in the Northeast Community has come from residential developers, according to city Planning Director Matt Winegar, who added that the area offers Oxnard its best chance of increasing the stock of affordable housing.