Council to Consider Fate of Lemon Groves

For years, debate has raged over what to do with 87 acres of lemon groves the city owns in east Ventura, off Telegraph Road and Petit Avenue.

Many in the community say debate over the fate of the aging groves triggered the save-the-greenbelt movement in Ventura and became the catalyst that led to the passage of the Save Our Agricultural Resources initiative in November 1995.

On Monday night, the City Council will continue the discussion of what to do with the 87 acres. City staff members recommend that the city try to sell the property, with the right to build 400 homes there.

The city bought the parcel in 1987 with the goal of using some or all of it for a park, or to exchange it for other property that could be used to build a park. At the time of purchase, the city did not have the money needed to transform the groves into a park.

Since then, city officials have considered various ideas for the parcel. They have talked about selling the land, converting it into a park or swapping parcels with a developer for a plot near Telephone Road and Kimball Road, so the builder could erect 437 houses there, and a park could be built closer to the center of the city.

The city decided that the fate of the land should wait until a long-range school facilities study ended, because there are also vacant school properties in east Ventura. The report will be presented to the council Monday. After a one-year moratorium, the city will again begin looking at housing allocations later this month.

City Manager Donna Landeros said a decision to market the land would not rule out any of the options the city considered before--including a land swap.

But Landeros said the 87-acre plot is not optimal because it is on a steep lot, and far from the freeway. She hopes the city will be able to build closer to California 126, on a parcel that is more level.