Limoneira's East Area 1 measure will not be on February ballot
Santa Paula News
By Peggy Kelly
The effort in creating an Environmental Impact Report for the planned development of East Area 1 is a massive undertaking, and Limoneira Co. has announced that completing the process will not allow voters to consider the issue on the February ballot. “Nothing comes easy, especially when it comes to planned development,” said Limoneira Co. President/CEO Harold Edwards.
Limoneira hopes to transform the former Teague McKevett Ranch area into an extension of the Santa Paula community, with up to 1,500 homes, an elementary school, room for additional campuses, and passive and active parks, among other features. The approval of the project by Santa Paula voters is required, due to SOAR mandated guidelines - the property lies outside the city’s urban development border - and the city’s own measure that limits residential and commercial development.
With an EIR, the “issues, though appropriate, are so complex it’s essential that the city take the time” to consider the study, potential impacts and mitigation measures, said Edwards. “For a project this important and this big, we just have to make sure we do it right.”
Limoneira has retained consultants and experts, “leaders in their field” of each study component, which includes air quality, water, traffic, biology, hydrology and many, many more. “If it’s an ‘ology’ we had to do it,” Edwards noted.
The “great news” is that each issue that might have represented an adverse impact has led to a “very low-impact solution and big improvements. Everyone in town knows that Haun Creek floods, and part of our plan had to deal with how to deal with the flow” during large rain events. The solution is large parks and soccer fields that will act as retention basins, diverting waters that normally would have flooded the creek. Traffic studies show that a new access to Highway 126 at Hallock Drive - diverting eastbound highway commuter traffic from busy 10th Street - will improve traffic flow at 10 intersections.
The Draft EIR has been submitted to the city, and “now they are chewing through it piece by piece,” while keeping the lines of communication open on concerns and potential changes. The relationship is “at arm’s length, but it’s a very healthful interaction,” said Edwards.
Aside from the finalization of the EIR itself, there is the process of comment periods. Once released, governmental agencies and members of the public have 45 days to comment on the document and, if changes are required, it will push back the preparation of the Final EIR.
And the EIR requires a 30-day comment period - and subsequent tweaking if necessary - before it and the development’s Specific Plan can be presented to the Planning Commission and City Council for approval. If approved, there’s more of a legally mandated wait, 90 days to be exact, before Limoneira can put the initiative on the ballot so that voters can decide the issue.
“In the next few months, or sooner, hopefully, the Draft EIR will be released,” said Edwards. “We’re at a dead run... if everything worked out right now we could have a special election in May, but since there is a Special Election Primary in June we would seriously consider” the East Area 1 issue for the latter ballot. Edwards said that it “just depends on when the Draft EIR is made available, which depends on the city’s work and determinations as they go through the process.”
“This is a big important project for Santa Paula, and our first priority is to make sure that the Draft EIR is as complete and as thorough as it can be” so that citizens are fully aware of and understand any potential impacts, said City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz.
“We’ve made sure, as we’ve examined every portion, that the draft document is as together and complete as possible.... It’s taken longer than expected,” due to the complexity of the project and “bits and pieces of” city staff vacations and absences, “but the project is moving forward.” The draft report, said Bobkiewicz, is “in its final stages and we hope to have it shortly.
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