Ventura County officials took one more step Tuesday toward a rebuilding project that will give Channel Islands Harbor five renovated parks, a four-mile walkway along the waterfront, new sidewalks and bike paths, and revamped entrances at three key intersections.

By a 4-0 vote, with Supervisor John Flynn absent, the board gave its preliminary OK to the Harbor Department's plans to improve the public, dry-land areas of the harbor. Work is already under way on the docks and waterside areas, and last week the California Coastal Commission gave its approval to an amended version of the county's plans for the waterside portion of the harbor.

The plans presented to the board Tuesday call for renovations of five parks around the harbor. Some of the parking will be eliminated, moved to the street, or otherwise reconfigured to make more room for playgrounds, picnic areas and fields, a move that was praised by a few supervisors.

"I don't know how often we use all of that parking," Supervisor Kathy Long said. "I think we need to soften those lots so they're not such an eyesore. They're just this big, huge square block that sits there in front of this beautiful backdrop."

The aesthetic elements of the renovation — everything from signs along the pathways to sculptures at the harbor's entrances — will be modeled after sails, masts and other nautical elements.

"That's a good, unifying theme in a harbor that has some difficulty feeling unified, with its unusual layout," Supervisor Steve Bennett said.

When Kathleen Garcia, a consultant to the Harbor Department with the firm Wallace, Roberts and Todd, finished her presentation, Bennett urged the department's leaders to think big, to look for one element that attracts visitors to the harbor. With varying degrees of seriousness, the board threw out ideas such as a tram in the air or gondolas in the water.

Cost estimates for the park, road and walkway work aren't available yet, said Harbor Director Lyn Krieger.

The private property managers who lease large portions of the harbor will pay for most of the waterfront promenade, while the county and the city of Oxnard are responsible for the parks and public sidewalks. That means the promenade would happen first, and the parks would be built over about 10 years, Krieger said.

In October, the proposals by Wallace, Roberts and Todd were shown to harbor-area residents, who were mostly supportive. The plan, now in a more definitive version, will be circulated among the public again and brought back to the Board of Supervisors for approval later this year.

The plan also needs to be approved by the California Coastal Commission.