Ventura Ranch farmworker housing project moves forward in approval process

Dua Anjum, Ventura County Star
·5 min read
Grass grows in a field along North Ventura Avenue in Decemeber where a farmworker housing development is being proposed. Several of the area residents oppose the development, which had been a citrus orchard for decades.
Grass grows in a field along North Ventura Avenue in Decemeber where a farmworker housing development is being proposed. Several of the area residents oppose the development, which had been a citrus orchard for decades.

The application for the 328-unit Ventura Ranch Housing Project on an 82.9-acre unincorporated site north of Ventura was deemed complete as of Wednesday, moving it forward in a lengthy approval process.

The project at 4884 N. Ventura Ave. would construct a complex with 18 three-story residential buildings consisting of one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments for farmworkers and their families. The site will also have a community center and 585 parking spaces.

Ventura County's Planning Division said that a complete application means that the county "has the required information necessary to evaluate the project for environmental impacts and for consistency with the (county's) General Plan and applicable ordinances."

The application was resubmitted last month after three previous attempts were deemed incomplete.

Lisa Woodburn, the civil engineer for the Ventura Ranch project, said that the latest update was about providing the county with some additional clarifications. The next step in the process is an environmental analysis through an Environmental Impact Report or EIR.

During the environmental process, a public meeting will be held to discuss the proposed project's scope and any possible environmental impacts with members of the public. Woodburn added that the public can ask that certain items be included in the environmental analysis.

Notification of the scoping meeting's date, time, and location will be mailed to adjacent property owners.

Woodburn said that after the environmental document is prepared, it gets released to the public and there's time for comments and responses to comment. Then, the project goes to the planning commission.

Residents hope their voices will be heard

Since the beginning, the project has faced opposition from the residents of Valley Vista, a neighborhood between Ventura and Ojai and next to the project. They fear the project will cause or worsen existing environmental, traffic and safety problems.

Sarah Swidler, a Valley Vista resident who lives on Floral Drive, started a petition in September 2023 to stop the development at “its current size and scale.” The petition has garnered more than 1,300 signatures as of late April on the website change.org. However, the site does not list signer's names and does not specify where they live.

Swidler said it's disappointing that the county has conditionally approved Ventura Ranch, at least for consideration, "which seems wildly imprudent for the location."

She said the residents have been raising their voices from the start as they believe that public views are not considered once such projects progress further into the planning process. However, she remains hopeful that their voices will be heard as the project moves to the next evaluation stages.

According to the developer, major resident concerns were addressed during a redesign but there are limits to incorporating feedback while operating within county regulations.

"We're most happy that we got a chance, even though we weren't obligated to, to go out to the community and get feedback from them, and then successfully incorporate that into the development early, where we have that flexibility as opposed to getting to a place of completeness," said Alex Pratt, vice president of development for AMCAL, the company building Ventura Ranch and a sister project Somis Ranch in Ventura County.

Fire safety concerns about Ventura Ranch

One of several signs hangs near the entrance to Valley Vista neighborhood north of Ventura. A proposed farmworker housing development nearby has raised concerned from current residents.
One of several signs hangs near the entrance to Valley Vista neighborhood north of Ventura. A proposed farmworker housing development nearby has raised concerned from current residents.

Steve Bostock lives on East Bounds Road with an 8-inch wall separating his property from Ventura Ranch.

"I'm against this proposal more than anything," Bostock said. "I believe that the safe housing practices for farmworkers are being neglected by AMCAL. Their ethics are terrible, even thinking about putting this project 100% surrounded by very high fire hazard severity zones shows they are more for profits."

In a previous interview, Bostock also mentioned that trees behind his backyard fence were on fire during the Thomas Fire, which tore through Ventura and Santa Barbara counties in 2017. He is worried about future fire emergencies in the area.

According to a CalFire map detailing Fire Hazard Severity Zones, the neighborhood is surrounded by “very high” severity zones. However, the agency classified 96% of rural Ventura County in "very high" fire zone last year.

Another neighbor has similar concerns. Linda Bellamy lives on Floral Drive and has resided in the neighborhood for 37 years.

"We don't even have adequate fire protection around here," Bellamy said. "The fire stations are like 4 miles (away) in both directions."

How Ventura Ranch may help farmworkers

Gabrielle Vignone, executive director for the House Farm Workers nonprofit, said that these projects open up farmworker housing to people with or without legal status.

"That is very important because we do have farmworkers who do not have the legal status and still need the affordable housing," Vignone said.

House Farm Workers, which works to improve affordable farmworker housing in Ventura County, estimates that the county has a population of over 41,600 farmworkers.

In 1998, voters in Ventura County first approved the Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources, or SOAR, initiative, which limits urban growth by requiring voter approval to designate agricultural land for other uses. However, the updated version of SOAR allows agricultural worker housing complexes as a permitted land use. As such, the Ventura Ranch housing project would not require a SOAR vote, according to the county planning division.

"These are the types of developments that I think the original SOAR advocates would be OK with," said Maria Navarro of Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy. The Ventura nonprofit works toward social, economic and environmental justice for working class and immigrant communities.

"They're the ones these exceptions are made for precisely — farmworkers who are working around the fields," Navarro said.

Dua Anjum is an investigative and watchdog reporter for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at dua.anjum@vcstar.com. This story was made possible by a grant from the Ventura County Community Foundation's Fund to Support Local Journalism.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Ventura Ranch housing project moves forward in approval process