House tour

All seven Councilmembers along with volunteer Planning, Design Review and Historic Preservation Commissioners spent today touring new neighborhoods in Ventura, Oxnard and Camarillo. The purpose of the bus tour was to get a shared, first-hand look at what works and doesn't work as we strive to implement the community's vision of smart growth in new neighborhood developments.

First stop was the Citrus Walk project near Kimball Road next to the 126. This 232 home development is nearly half complete, giving an opportunity to see how the redesign of the project is working out. The final design expanded the range of home types and lot sizes and also incorporated in two small parks. The group met representatives of the Olson Company and walked through the model area and then toured the rest of the site on the bus.

The bus tour continued east through the Saticoy area and then headed for Riverpark in Oxnard. At the 2800 home development, the group met Oxnard City Planner Sue Martin and Shea Homes Community Director Tony Talamante to oversee the entire site plan, then continued by bus to see what has been built to date. Then it was on to D.R. Horton's Seabridge development built along an extension of the marina at Channel Islands Harbor.

The final leg toured University Glen next to Cal State Channel Islands and then Village at the Park next to the 101 in Camarillo.

The tour group was looking at both the larger challenges of designing neighborhoods and the details that mark the quality of individual streets and homes. Alleys vs. garages in front of homes, landscaping, placement of utility boxes, how storm water run-off is handled, whether homes are walled off from parks or whether they face them -- these were the kinds of issues that got careful scrutiny.

No consensus or decisions were reached. The goal was to highlight the kinds of concerns that should get attention as Ventura reviews new projects coming before our Commissions and ultimately the City Council.