VENTURA : Announcement on Keys Suit Delayed

With several Ventura officials away from the city on Tuesday, staff members decided to delay announcing the number of Ventura Keys residents who have agreed to settle a years-old lawsuit against the city.

But city officials and members of a Keys community group acknowledge that a city settlement proposal will almost certainly be rejected.

Less than 25% of about 300 Ventura Keys residents signed the inch-thick proposal before the 45-day deadline expired Friday, city officials said.

Residents of the luxury community sued the city and three other public agencies after the Ventura City Council imposed annual taxes on the landowners to pay for dredging the back-yard canals winding through the neighborhood.

The homeowners contend that the waterways are clogged with silt that runs off from city storm drains and a nearby barranca, and that the city should pay the cost to clear out the canals every seven years.

Annual taxes for each property owner are close to $2,000. The settlement offer would lower the amount to just over $800, with $64 yearly increases.

Councilman Gregory L. Carson, who spent more than two years negotiating with the homeowners, said he could not understand why property owners refused to accept the offer.

“The Keys representatives had complete input throughout the whole process in this deal,” Carson said. “It was theirs as much as any of the other agencies that were involved.”

A June 9 hearing on the original lawsuit has been scheduled in Ventura County Superior Court.