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Hueneme council kills condo tower project
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More from Other NewsThe Port Hueneme City Council on Wednesday rejected a developer's bid to consider a 46-story condominium and hotel complex on the beach, killing the project for good.
Voting 3-0, council members declined to reopen negotiations with Ventura-based CPH Tower LLC. Approval would have also opened the project to an environmental impact review by the city.
But council members bowed to overwhelming public opposition, calling the project a poor fit that could threaten the character of a quaint beach community.
"Is this the right project, the right time, the right location?" Councilman Murray Rosenbluth said. "I conclude it's not."
Speaking later, Harvey Champlin, a managing partner with CPH Tower, said he wasn't surprised by the decision. "I think the community had made up its mind," Champlin said. "What's done is done. We gave it our best shot."
Council members Jon Sharkey and Toni Young could not vote due to a conflict of interest.
The issue has split the community since 2005, when Champlin and Mulokas introduced a 20-story version of the tower. Council members voted to open negotiations then, but the agreement lapsed a year later with no approval.
Meanwhile, Champlin and Mulokas reviewed nearly 25 versions of the project.
They unveiled the 46-story proposal last year at a housing conference in Westlake Village, calling it a model of smart growth that favored high density over sprawl.
Approval later would have made it the tallest structure between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
This proposal reached its first and only significant hurdle Wednesday with several hundred people jamming the city's Orvene S. Carpenter Community Center. Supporters wore green buttons while opponents brandished red ones.
Mulokas cast the tower as a "signature building" that would ensure the city's quality of life with annual fees of $2.2 million a year an antidote to the city's annual $1.2 million budget deficit.
Rosenbluth, however, questioned whether the city was at risk financially if the project failed. He also asked how long it would take before the city sees any money.
Champlin said the city would not take any financial risk. Approval and construction would take about five years, Champlin said. Establishing the hotel would take about three years, but condo sales would likely start immediately after construction, Champlin said.
Though few in number, supporters during the three-hour public hearing said the tower would provide jobs, jump start professions and boost tourism with prize-winning views of the Channel Islands.
Several said the city had nothing to lose by re-opening negotiations.
"Give them a chance to have that dialogue with you," former Councilman Tony Volante said.
But of the nearly 60 speakers, opponents outnumbered supporters by more than four to one. Critics raised concerns about traffic, parking, noise, pollution and worries that a final approval would invite similar proposals and transform the area into Miami Beach.
Several critics praised the tower's design, a four-sided base for a 250-room hotel, topped by a three-sided tower for 200 condos. But they argued that the edifice was way out of proportion for a neighborhood with two- and three-story condos.
"I don't think it fits the character of Port Hueneme," Councilman Norman Griffaw said.
Posted by RelaxPeople on April 19, 2007 at 8:27 a.m. (Suggest removal)
What is the character of Port Hueneme? A place you dont want to walk through at night? A place on the fringe of the county that only has an economy because of the Naval Base?
Port Hueneme is about the biggest dump of all the cities in Ventura County. They just blew a chance to finally have a face.
Posted by ctuando on April 19, 2007 at 8:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Port Hueneme is, and hopefully always will be, Southern California's best kept secret! I am all for growth, but this tower would have been so out of place in our little beach town. Thank you Port Hueneme!!!
Posted by RelaxPeople on April 19, 2007 at 8:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Little beach town? Come on, I lived in Port Hueneme for a year and in that time I saw a triple homicide before my very own eyes!
Posted by AnaCapa on April 19, 2007 at 10:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Izzardn, what triple homicide? There was no triple homicide in Port Hueneme. Why do you find it necesary to lie and make things up? I guess when the truth is not on your side you have to lie and fabricate. What a shame.
Posted by koka on April 19, 2007 at 10:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
You've been here a year? Thanks for visiting. ☺
Posted by BigEye on April 19, 2007 at 10:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Shhhhh...lets keep Hueneme a secret. Yes it has had a checkered past but thanks to the efforts of residents and the city it has matured into a real nice little beachtown. I call it Poorman's Malibu (without the crowds). Lets do more. In the summer non-residents trash our beach. take a grocery bag and pick up after them, we're humble enough to do that. Peace all.
Posted by Ventura22 on April 19, 2007 at 11:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Keep it a secret?? Huh? It's known for crime, gangs, killings and being a dirty port city. What kind of character is this? If it is such a great little town, the local media sure do a great job of listing the crime problem out there. Probably because it has a lot of low-income neighborhoods; like Oxnard. Reality; they tend to attract problem people...unfortunate but true!
It would take much more than high-rise towers to fix this problem. Seems like the people there who care so much about their little community should be much more involved in community based policing. They should get out more and make a presence. Maybe the media would notice this and portray this city in a more positive light.
Posted by BigEye on April 19, 2007 at 12:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I gotta laugh at those who get their views of the world from the media. If you've ever visited the beach area you would notice all the communities there are gated.The crime rate in these condo communities is very small. The towers were going to be built in this area. Had they been proposed in the blighted area of Hueneme I am sure they would have been approved. Peace all.
Posted by Cacique on April 19, 2007 at 12:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Why not then sell out and annex to Oxnard?
Posted by koka on April 19, 2007 at 12:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Put it at the end of Arnold's.
Posted by RelaxPeople on April 19, 2007 at 1:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
About the triple homicide, I lived on the corner of Ventura Road and Teakwood right accross the street from Sunkist elementary. Sitting on my couch watching tv i hear gun shots followed by a crash. Im sure you know the incident, two rival gangs start firing at each other from their cars killing two and killing a woman on the other side of the road driving. The car crash into a tree by the Base Gate. So no, I am not lying. Just about the craziest thing i've ever seen.
Posted by ajuliagulia on April 19, 2007 at 1:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Thank you City Council and organizers of I have lived on Port Hueneme's Surfside Drive for over 7 years. It has been a lovely town to raise my family and take a stroll on a quiet beach at any time of the day or night. I am delighted that a sky scraper will not begin to turn my small town into a west coast version of Miami.
Posted by nsolorzano87 on April 19, 2007 at 5:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
What's wrong with Miami?!
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