CAMARILLO : Theater Complex on Edge of Airport OKd

The Camarillo City Council on Wednesday approved the construction of a 12-screen movie theater complex near the city’s airport, rejecting a recommendation by the city’s Airport Authority that the project be scrapped because of safety concerns.

The 54,880-square-foot theater complex, to be operated by Edwards Theatres Circuit Inc., is planned for a portion of the Koll-Leonard property--site of a proposed factory outlet mall immediately south of the Ventura Freeway between Las Posas Road and Carmen Drive.

The theater complex would be located about a mile from the Camarillo Airport’s main runway.

Council members said they believe the proposed site is safe, based upon a consultant’s study and their own review of the development.

“I was originally opposed to this project, but since that time I have changed my mind,” Councilman David Smith said. “In my opinion, the consultant’s report satisfies me that there’s not a high probability of an accident occurring at this site compared to any other site in the city.”

On Sept. 9, the Camarillo Airport Authority voted 3 to 2 to reject the proposed theater complex, saying that it would needlessly endanger a high number of people should a plane crash into the building. The planned theater complex would seat up to 3,000.

At the time, Smith joined his fellow Airport Authority members Jim Hickerson and county Supervisor John Flynn in opposing the plan. The panel vote supported the safety concerns of Marshal MacKinen, administrator of county airports.

During Wednesday’s council meeting, Camarillo pilot W. N. Thomas said that he believed the authority made the right decision in recommending that the project be denied.

“The main concern was not the idea that a facility would be built there, but that a high-density facility would be built there,” Thomas said.