Camarillo Farm Family Seeking OK to Build Agricultural Theme Park

One of Ventura County’s original farm families is proposing to convert about 25 acres along the Ventura Freeway in Camarillo into an agricultural museum, retail shops, motel and garden restaurant.

“An ag theme park is something we’ve been talking about for 20 years,” said Rick McGrath, a fifth generation farmer. “We want to keep farming, but farming is something that is becoming difficult.

“I can remember as a kid walking across the freeway--it was a two-lane road then,” McGrath said. “Now it’s a major highway and creates a certain amount of pollution problems and vandalism on a daily basis.”

The plan calls for 25 to 30 acres to be converted into a 379,000-square-foot agriculturally themed commercial center over a five- to 10-year period. The property is south of the Ventura Freeway and west of Wood Ranch Road.

The McGraths are requesting that the city of Camarillo annex about 200 acres of farmland for the project. Under the development plan, nearly all of the property would remain farmland.

The City Council will decide tonight whether to refer the proposal to the city’s planning staff for further consideration.

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This is not the first time the McGrath family has requested annexation.

“They submitted a request in the early ‘90s and that application wasn’t processed because they didn’t come forward with filing the appropriate applications or paying the fees,” said Tony Boden, the city’s planning director.

The McGrath family has farmed the Oxnard Plain for more than 120 years and at one time owned more than 5,000 acres of coastal farmland, including the entire stretch of coastal property from Ventura to Port Hueneme.

The McGrath property along the freeway is home to the Central Market produce stand, a greenhouse nursery and an annual pumpkin patch.

“We don’t want to see it converted to a major development, and feel even people in this county don’t understand exactly what farming is,” McGrath said. “An ag education center would showcase farming for people in Ventura County and from outside the area.”

In addition to a 28,000-square-foot agricultural museum, the first phase of the development plan calls for the construction of a large barn where area farmers could sell their products, providing a local farmers’ market every day throughout the year.

In between the original Central Market and new barn, a family picnic area would be developed.

The McGraths envision free farm tours for groups of schoolchildren, as well as paid tours for the public.

The family also intends to make Christmas trees and seasonal crops, such as strawberries, available to the public to pick.

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In addition to farm implements and crops, farm animals would also be featured, including a petting zoo, open pasture for goats, sheep, ponies and cows and an enclosed children’s barn.

Phase II of the project would include construction of a 37,000-square-foot second barn for retail shops, including a garden shop, a tack and feed store, an art gallery featuring agriculture-related art and prints, a farm variety store and a bookstore.

A multipurpose building would also be constructed during this phase for use during community events, private functions and as a gathering place for 4-H and FFA clubs.

Finally, the third phase of the plan calls for the development of a 43,000-square-foot restaurant and a 187,000-square-foot motel. The restaurant would be built in a greenhouse-like setting and emphasize natural foods and produce.

The McGraths’ plans for an agricultural theme park do not conflict, however, with another developer’s plans for an agricultural exposition center.

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Armando Lopez’s proposal for a 90-acre center in Oxnard was recently struck down by Oxnard officials.

But he said he is still looking for a Ventura County site for the planned facility, named Pacific Ag Expo.

“Our plan is for high-tech exposition halls with interactive exhibits and convention center . . . to be able to accommodate national agricultural conventions,” Lopez said, adding that he does not see himself in direct competition with the McGraths.