Special Reasons Persuaded Board to Approve Projects

Ventura County supervisors have voted on occasion over the years to allow certain projects to be developed outside city boundaries, either on land zoned for agriculture or open space.

In each case, however, there was an overriding reason for the county to allow these developments, said Keith Turner, director of the county’s Planning Department.

Here is a list of some of the projects that have been approved:

*In 1987, the Board of Supervisors approved the building of Lake Sherwood Country Club, a 630-luxury-home development south of Thousand Oaks.

Billionaire developer David H. Murdock won approval for his project after promising to restore and maintain Lake Sherwood and to fix chronic water and sewer problems for the 125 existing houses around the lake, Turner said.

“At the time, a bunch of people came to the board saying, ‘Please do it, please do it, please fix our problems for us,’ ” he said.

*In 1989, the board approved a 100-unit housing project on the sprawling Rancho Sespe citrus ranch near Fillmore. The project was designed to accommodate the ranch’s farm worker families.

“The county felt the project was needed so that the farm workers could be close to the agricultural operations,” Turner said. “We know a lot of people didn’t like to see it plunked down there, but no one stepped forward to provide other housing.”

*In 1992, the supervisors voted to construct the $54-million Todd Road Jail on a 157-acre lemon orchard near Santa Paula. The county facility was built to help reduce overcrowding at the main jail in Ventura.

Correctional facilities are actually among the uses permitted in areas zoned for agriculture and open space, Turner said. One of the reasons is they tend not to promote further growth, he said.

*In 1992, county leaders approved the $1-billion Ahmanson Ranch housing project in the rolling Simi Hills near the Los Angeles County line. The development, which has been stalled because of lawsuits, calls for construction of 3,050 houses, two golf courses and a town center with dozens of shops and government buildings.

The board approved the project on the condition that the developer deliver more than 10,000 acres of mountain land--most of it owned by entertainer Bob Hope--to state and federal park agencies before breaking ground. So far, only about 3,000 acres has been acquired as parkland.

The massive project, which will be built on 2,800 acres of grazing land, was allowed in an unincorporated area because it was designed to eventually become a city itself, Turner said.

*Cal State officials this year acquired the last piece of a 260-acre lemon orchard west of Camarillo to build a four-year university campus.

The state assembled a special site selection committee to find a home for the campus. While the committee took suggestions and recommendations from local government officials, the county had little say in the final site selection, Turner said.