An initiative to amend the circulation element of Oxnard's general plan was submitted to the city clerk May 23. It was drafted by myself, Bert Perello, Richard Francis, Tim Flynn and Fred Rosenmund. We intend to circulate petitions to put it on the June 2008 ballot.

It would amend Oxnard's general plan and require a public vote for residential projects exceeding five units, or commercial development exceeding 5,000 square feet if the resulting project would cause the traffic flow at any intersection within a five-mile radius to drop below what is referred to as a "C" level of service by traffic engineers.

The initiative is intended to stop the abusive fashion in which the city approves projects without any consideration for traffic. It does not prohibit development; it only says that the public will be directly involved in the approval of large projects that adversely impact traffic.

One would hope that Oxnard council members would not have any objection to the participation of the public in approving large projects that are going to impact them. I would also point out that it only attempts to enforce a "C" level of traffic circulation, which the general plan already calls for, but is routinely ignored by the council.

Councilman Andres Herrera has expressed the concern that this project will stop low-cost housing and cause multiple families to move into homes, creating denser population levels and, thus, an increase in traffic. Please consider the following.

As of the week of May 21, there were 794 used homes on the market. These do not include the large stock of new homes that remain unsold on the market. There are currently only 94 homes in escrow, as savvy buyers are buying homes in foreclosure. Prices are dropping rapidly and this is only going to continue over the next several years.

There is no need, therefore, for the creation of new, affordable housing, as the real-estate and loan-industry markets themselves are rapidly creating such housing.

The days of cheap financing, which artificially drove up housing prices, are over as we watch one subprime lender after another go bankrupt, causing median prices to fall more than $100,000 in less than a year.

We do not need, therefore, to abuse Save Open-space and Agricultural Resources to destroy more farmland for unneeded housing as the market is already hitting the $540,000 price level being targeted for Jones Ranch. In fact, based on current statistics, "Jonestown" houses would end up costing more than an existing median-priced house. The other ironic consequence is that such new housing would cause everyone else's home in Oxnard to further drop in value.

I hope that each of the council members at today's council meeting will endorse this initiative. A failure to do so shows a distrust in the public, and the message to the public is that only council members, not residents, know what projects are good for the community.

It raises a question for many as to why a majority of this council is so motivated to recklessly approve projects proposed by any developers, even to the extent of exploiting an exemption in SOAR that was not intended by its authors or the public.

I hope at today's Oxnard City Council meeting, the council members will join Councilman Tim Flynn, one of the authors of this initiative, in supporting this effort to improve traffic.

Their endorsement would simply show they agree the public should participate in deciding whether or not a large project brings enough benefit to the community to justify its impact on traffic.

Edward M. Castillo, of Oxnard, is a former Oxnard planning ommissioner.