New Library Tied to OK on Home Project

VENTURA —  Councilman Ray Di Guilio has negotiated a deal that would bring a new $500,000 library to west Ventura, replacing the tiny Ventura Avenue branch slated for closure this summer--if the council approves a contested housing development.

Under a proposal with landowner Tom Neel, the Neel family would build a 3,500- to 4,000-square-foot library as part of its proposed 170- to 180-unit housing development in west Ventura.

“They are going to simply build it as part of the development project,” said Di Guilio, who planned to present the idea to the City Council on Monday night. “Developers do that when they build parks. This would be a public facility of a different nature.”

But who would pay for the library’s ongoing operation remains a critical question, since the county library services agency has cut from next year’s budget all funding for small branches.

In addition, the housing project is facing an entirely different set of complications, including opposition by Ventura Avenue businesses who say the tract would clash with loud industrial neighbors.

It costs the county $94,000 a year to keep the Ventura Avenue library open on a part-time basis.

Although the new facility would save the agency $17,000 in rent, the county cannot afford to pay the difference, said Alan Langville, manager of the community libraries division.

“It’s a good idea from the standpoint that it would reduce the rent requirement and would give us a new building and a better facility overall,” Langville said of the Neel proposal.

But in the county’s proposed budget for next year, he said, there is no money to support a small library in west Ventura.

“We would look to the city to help with the financing,” Langville said.

Before last night’s meeting, Councilman Gary Tuttle said he was intrigued by the proposal but was resistant to promise any city money until it is fleshed out.

“I certainly support libraries,” he said. “But how does that fit in with our community plan? Is it too far away? Who’s going to pay for it when it’s built?”

West Ventura residents, who have been fighting to save the tiny Ventura Avenue branch from closure, said they support the plan and remain optimistic that money for a new library can be found.

“This is a real opportunity to maintain a community resource in our part of town,” said Laurie Flack, president of the Westside Community Council. “We have continued to be very concerned about a library presence on the Avenue.”

As proposed, the Neel family would build the library and once completed, donate it to the city.

The library would be located in the proposed housing development, which would stretch across a narrow rectangular 20-acre parcel between California 33 and Ventura Avenue in the area of Shoshone Street.

“They are very excited about what this could do to their community,” said Di Guilio, who approached the family with the idea several months ago. “Because of the family history, I thought that they would be receptive to this type of request.”

The Neels are descendants of E.P. Foster, a Ventura banker and philanthropist who donated the land for E.P. Foster Library in downtown Ventura.

The site for the proposed housing development was once the home of E.P. Foster’s daughter, Edith Neel Mercer, and her son, Henry Neel, whose children have agreed to donate the land for the library and pay for its construction.

“Of course,” Di Guilio said, “it is conditional upon their moving forward with their project.”

The Neels’ plan to build as many as 180 homes on their family farm has been on hold since the City Council agreed to postpone for a year the city’s biennial housing allocation process, in which developers seek permission to construct new homes.

*

In a separate request Monday night, Di Guilio planned to ask his colleagues to consider allowing the Neels to “borrow” allocations already approved for 900 new homes in downtown Ventura.

By dipping into those allocations, construction on the housing project--and the library--could begin in a few months, Di Guilio said. The council approved a zoning change last year.

“One of the ideas is to get this on a fast track,” he said. “This would have gone through the normal [Residential Growth Management Plan] process this year if it hadn’t been postponed.”

But some city leaders have resisted the idea of borrowing from allocations reserved for housing projects in the city’s downtown redevelopment area.

Although he supports the Neel project, Tuttle said he worried that the council would take the allocations and never put them back into the city’s plan for future residential development.

And while various components of the Neel plan are being discussed, library supporters say they worry that the Ventura Avenue branch will die for a lack of money.

Ventura resident Maxine Culp said city officials need to look hard at dipping into city funding to keep the branch alive.

“They do find money for other things,” she said. “It seems to me like they could and should find money to keep our library open until a long-term solution is found.”