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Ventura hillside residents say new clinic will block their view
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More from Breaking NewsVentura hillside residents have filed a lawsuit in an effort to temporarily stop construction of a clinic they claim is being sprung on the community without adequate notice and sufficient environmental review.
Construction of the Ventura County Medical Center clinic, which will reach as high as 90 feet, will block views of the ocean and foothills, say leaders of the Ventura Foothill Neighbors. They planned on following the lawsuit with the request for a temporary injunction to be filed Monday.
"The topography of Ventura is being robbed from us," said Jackie Moran, a leader of the Ventura Foothill Neighbors. ³People don't come to Ventura to see buildings, they come to see what we have, what God gave us."
A hearing on the injunction is set for Ventura County Superior Court on Tuesday. If granted, it would halt construction of the five-story building until a ruling can be made on whether there should be a longer injunction that would stop work until the lawsuit is resolved.
County officials say they¹ll fight the injunction and deny the lawsuit's allegations.
"I believe we have given notice, appropriate legal notice, and we've gone beyond appropriate legal notice," said County Exective Officer Marty Robinson. "We certainly weren't trying to hide anything. ... It's absolutely not the case that this building was sprung on anybody."
Posted by BeaHappi on July 18, 2008 at 1:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It would bug me to have my view blocked too. But in this case, it doesn't seem like anything can be done to stop the construction.
Posted by beachgurl on July 18, 2008 at 1:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I think "the topography of Ventura" was "robbed from us" when they dug into the hills to build all those houses! Take a walk up in the hills and see what those construction companies go through to get those houses up and see if the "topography" is changed. Just because you were there first doesn't give you dibs on everything in your line of vision.
Posted by BeaHappi on July 18, 2008 at 1:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Nope, no guarantees on the view! You know, on the upside...now that the views will be upstructed maybe the prices will drop on some of those homes up there!
That could be a bonus for those of us "plains-dwellars!"
Posted by BeaHappi on July 18, 2008 at 2:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Glass half-full Junior...glass-half full!
Posted by Equitable_Enforcer on July 18, 2008 at 2:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I agree with the premise that building on the hill is part of the problem. The view of the foothills has been destroyed by homes built by higher incomes folks. It is we flatlanters who have to suffer because of the hill dwellers.
One group is agruing that their view will be destroyed. I certainly feel for them. After a 20 year view of the mountains at our North East, The Olson Company built behind us. When photos were presented at the City Council meeting to show what would happen when Olsen's condos and high density stuff would be built in the midst of three mature, residential neighborhoods, we were told that we don't have a right to views. Little concession was made.
Olson's project went in ... and it is worse than originally presented by them. It is a nightmare of traffic, people who bought in above their means who have let their backyards go to pot ... with the result that seeds from weeds are now permeating our yards.
Since Cole has been on board, things have gotten progressively worse.
Posted by sirdvsdsw on July 18, 2008 at 3:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
We should tear down the houses in the foot hills and replant the 68,000 little fellas that lost there home in forest.
Posted by sirdvsdsw on July 18, 2008 at 3:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)
And send the foot hill residents to the forest!!! Admire that natural view hypocrites!!!
Posted by LivinInPoorMansPV on July 18, 2008 at 3:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Hypocrites!
Posted by BeaHappi on July 18, 2008 at 4:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
sirdvsdsw..."replant the little fellas..." OMG! I am laughing so hard I had to shut my office door!
Poor little fellas...that's going to make me laugh everytime I think of it.
Posted by karslate on July 18, 2008 at 5:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Funny-It never mentions that Jackie Moran is also in the real estate business and she has sold a lot of the houses on the hill with the "view" as a selling point.
Posted by Tom_Johnston on July 18, 2008 at 6:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This area, where the Clinic is to be built, has been zoned for taller buildings for a very, very long time. While I guess some of the more recent buyers in the area find this to be a surprise it should not have come as one to the Real Estate professionals that sold them their homes.
Really, jut look at CMH. It's like 7-8 stories high. This is not a tip off? Or did they just look/view the other way?
Their legal recourse would seem to be with less than full disclosure real estate agents and not the County.
But then, ultimately, it comes down to needs...the views of a few, or the health care needs of the many.
Posted by ssakoian on July 18, 2008 at 7:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Never ceases to amaze me where there is money, there are lawsuits. Where there are views to be lost, there are lawsuits. Where there are views, there are taxes for windows that show an inch of ocean. Gosh-oh-golly-gee-whiz.
But lest you all forget, if we don't add more beds, we won't have to serve more of those illegals and poor folks you all like to hate. So, that's another good reason for a lawsuit - keep the view, keep out the needy! Two problems solved with one lawsuit. Efficient money use - now we can buy more gas!
Posted by Ventura22 on July 18, 2008 at 8:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Yawn... Show me any law or doctrine that guarantees anyone a "view". Do these loons ever stop to think of how 12 licensed drivers(jurors) will deliberate on such a case? What a bunch of BS. Oh, well, another bad el nino year will wipe-out some of these hillside homes with a landslide anyway, and that will somehow be everyone else's fault too.
Posted by B8R_N4MD on July 18, 2008 at 11:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Isnt the new building in-between the County Hospital and the hillside homes? So wouldnt it be more appropriate to say they will lose their view of the old building because of the new building? They will still have views of the ocean, stop whining and wasting money.
Posted by celtcwrtr on July 18, 2008 at 11:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)
if the area has been zoned for the building height for quite some time... caveat emptor. i'm not sure if it would even qualify under disclosure laws with realtors... maybe, maybe not. bottom line, it's the type of thing one should investigate prior to buying property. it's unreasonable to presume the hospital/medical area on loma vista wouldn't grow. this should be thrown out as a nuisance lawsuit, with appropriate fines levied against the filing parties.
Posted by sagacious2u on July 18, 2008 at 11:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)
So how would you all feel if they built a mental institution next door to your home?
Posted by jill on July 19, 2008 at 10:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
My view of the beautiful foothills was taken away when they built homes on them.
Posted by cfactor on July 20, 2008 at 10:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Yes, the clinc will block these peoples view which help to secure property values and bring revenue into the city. Personally, I would rather see beautiful hillside homes than a multi-story building and parking lots. I enjoy driving down Foothill and noticing the ocean - not buildings.
Posted by marketrealist on July 21, 2008 at 9:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)
We need urban infill and the only way to go is up. I don't think that the right to ocean views are were granted at the time the hillside homes were developed.
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