Home › News › County News
Sketches of revamped harbor unveiled
Public voices ideas for waterfront improvements at Oxnard hearing
Download this story as a podcast!
Images courtesy of Wallace, Roberts & Todd
An image of the waterfront promenade at the west end of Channel Islands Harbor as it looks today.
STORY TOOLS 
More from County News
Images courtesy of Wallace, Roberts & Todd
One of three conceptual designs of what the area might look like when the public improvements are done. It does not represent an actual proposal for the harbor.
About 100 Oxnard and harbor-area residents got a look Wednesday night at some rough sketches of what the parks, sidewalks and other public areas at Channel Islands Harbor might look like when the county is finished with its plans for redeveloping the harbor.
Wednesday's public forum, held at the Embassy Suites Mandalay Bay near the harbor, was designed mostly to gather the public's input on plans for the land portions of the harbor. Staffers and consultants for the Ventura County Harbor Department presented the broad outline of their ideas and asked the audience what it would like to see in the harbor's public areas.
Some of the most popular answers: a continuous promenade along the entire stretch of waterfront, better signs and lights, and more parks. The harbor should attract more visitors while maintaining its small-town feel, the meeting's attendees said.
"What we're hearing is, we're not looking to turn this into an amusement park," said Jennifer Lilley, a consultant who moderated the meeting. "We want to enhance what's there."
The meeting was focused on the harbor's parks and other public areas, but many of the people present wanted to talk about the plans for the commercial properties.
The harbor has been plagued for years by crumbling infrastructure and vacancies in some of its largest commercial buildings. Developers have proposed as much as $150 million in improvements to the shops, hotels, restaurants, marinas, boat yards and other businesses.
Those projects are being handled separately, and each will have its own set of public hearings, so on Wednesday, Lilley steered questions back toward the public areas.
It's difficult to separate those elements of the harbor from the business environment, said Crosby Swartz, an Oxnard resident who attended the meeting.
"If it's an economically viable area for businesses, they'll make the money to contribute to the landscaping and the sidewalks," he said.
Wednesday's meeting was noticeably calmer than the last forum on the topic, held in August. That meeting was derailed for a bit when a group of people who are unhappy with the county's harbor plans spoke out against the entire process, and then walked out, Harbor Director Lyn Krieger said.
To keep things on track, the Harbor Department hired Lilley to moderate Wednesday's forum.
"They kept a lid on it this time," said Preston Davis, one of the area residents who is unhappy with the way the county is conducting the process. "(Lilley) really kept things under control."
The Harbor Department will hold another meeting on the topic next month, perhaps in front of the Harbor Commission, which advises the Board of Supervisors on harbor policy. The Board of Supervisors will probably look at proposed plans in January, Krieger said.
Any harbor plans must also be approved by the California Coastal Commission.
The Board of Supervisors has already approved a master plan for the water portions of the harbor, which includes replacing many of the current docks. It is has been submitted to the Coastal Commission, and the commission recently extended by one year the period in which it could hear the matter. Krieger said it will probably go before the commission within the next few months.
Posted by 2cusmile on October 26, 2007 at 12:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
ITS BEEN A LONG TIME COMING!
Being a life long resident and having worked and owned a business in this exact same area for over 40 years, all I can say is:
It’s been out of control for a long time.
How can we build up and construct a bigger CI Harbor when we can’t take care of what we have now?
We need to look at the people running the harbor and the people that really care and live in this area.
Ventura Harbor doesn’t seem to have this much of a problem.
I think the old part of the CI Harbor is much more beautiful and has way more potential then it has been given.
We as a community need to stand up and get the right people to run it.
Sincerely,
A resident that cares
“ Individually we are a drop together we are an ocean”
Posted by Adrienne on October 27, 2007 at 7:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Mr. Biasotti; very, very OOOOLD story, now being called a ‘revamped harbor’.
In 1998 Harbor Director, Krieger, presented a plan to the BOS to eradicate the Public Park adjacent to Blue Fin Circle on Harbor’s West side. It was accepted IN CONCEPT ONLY.
The City of Oxnard refused approval. Yet, instead of following protocol Krieger chose to progress. In fact, the public strongly opposed and still does.
Then, for support, Director went over heads of local government and appealed to State Boating and Waterways.
A letter was composed stating if the center were not built on Kreiger’s chosen site State funds would not be delivered.
CCC hearing was February 19, 2004. Testimony of Supervisor Flynn, Volk, past Public Works Plan staff, Environmentalists and Ventura County residents helped sway the CCC to decline Harbor Department’s staff recommendation and revert to amending the PWP.
It cost half million tax dollars before Kreiger went through the real PWP amendment process; imprudent misconduct.
Other controversies: first time in history, the Harbor is in two lawsuits in one year; BEACON Foundation, and Farrell family.
Kiddie and Hobie Beaches are sand-less and trap stagnate water. Residents paid $140,000 of Harbor funds to study the problem. And later, a $1.5 million Grant from the State.
Fuel Dock next to the beaches draws no revenue to the Harbor.
Sport Fishing’s Dock is condemned.
Old Landing and Public Park is fenced off and rented for dry storage, with park and restrooms inaccessible to the public.
The Anacapa Boat Yard owner on a month-to-month lease with blueprints collect dust.
The Fisherman’s Wharf is 80% vacant.
The Golden Dolphin Restaurant has revenue-raising potential; vacant for 13 years.
Harbor Landing has had four different owners and remains 60% vacant.
Truly, if the Harbor were suitably managed, it would be beautiful and self-sustaining. The present condition of the Harbor reflects deficient direction and financial waste.
Now is the time to become more vigilant over management and expenditures.
After years and years, too many County Supervisors and CCC are not addressing the ineffectiveness of harbor management.
Instead, they're permitting misuse of power and public funds.
The whole mess could be so easily cleared up with the BISC in the east location. Combine it with the Maritime Museum and the Tall Ship program.
Anyone new looking at these plans are really looking at a very old story.
If the ones in charge don’t change, we’ll be looking at the same plans in another 10 years.
Posted by lthrnek on October 30, 2007 at 4:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Getting Residents, Business and Government Interests to get along is like convincing the Shiite's and Sunni's to stop killing each other. The "Not in my backyard" conflict won't go away soon.
When experienced boaters urge you to put a Boating Education Center on a leeward bank, you know something is seriously wrong. . .
(Requires free registration.)
Article discussions on this site are to support community debates of issues related to our stories and editorials.
Discussions should not stray from the subject of the story or editorial.
We do not allow the following:
We reserve the right to delete threads and/or ban users for these or other reasons we deem necessary.
Opinions are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.