Ventura County Perspective : SOAR Closes the Gate to Development : Managed, sustained growth is necessary for a community. But no growth will make it impossible for our children to own homes where they grew up.

Ventura County is America’s largest gated community.

Not true, you say? Then consider this: With the passage of SOAR (Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources) initiatives, the residents of Ventura County, excluding Santa Paula and Fillmore, have chosen to cut themselves off from new development outside current city boundaries for the next 20 years without a majority vote on any specific development by the affected city and county voters.

Great, you might be saying, no new development means no more traffic, congestion, loss of open space, etc. But let’s break down what SOAR initiatives have done so far and what their long-term impact will really be.

SOAR has virtually shut down all new planned residential development in unincorporated Ventura County and has affected other areas that most people never dreamed of when they cast their votes.

The city of Ventura wants a new regional park for its residents. Guess what: It can’t be done without voter approval. Well, who wouldn’t want a new park? Good for kids and seniors alike, right? But just wait. Chances are someone is going to use SOAR as a roadblock, probably using it and litigation to slow down or prevent residents from even voting on it.

Couldn’t happen, you say? Just look at what’s going on with the First Assembly of God church in Ventura, which needs voter approval to build a new sanctuary, sports fields and running track. Church officials are ready to take their chances with a vote (they have gathered 7,000 signatures in support of the project) and hope to get the go-ahead to build on their land.

But wait! In rides attorney Richard Francis, self-proclaimed patron saint of the “no-growth” movement. He sues to keep the project off the ballot because he doesn’t think the plans (approved by the appropriate city agencies) were sufficiently spelled out for him and his band of no-growthies.

So here’s a lesson for any of you who have invested in property in any unincorporated area of Ventura County: Before you decide to use your property for its “highest and best use,” in addition to the bureaucratic quagmire that is now the norm in the planning and approval process, you had better see if Mr. Francis and his band of merry men are available so you can run your plans by them also.

It reminds me of when I was a kid and learned how the Soviet Union worked. The way it was explained to me, there was a government but the real decisions were made by the Communist Party--a bunch of bureaucrats who were never elected by the people. Sound familiar?

Now you’re thinking, “He’s equating SOAR with socialist thought!” Well, maybe not quite--but close.

Consider this: In Moorpark, Messenger Investment Co. has invested $1.5 million in its Hidden Creek Ranch project. It has spent 15 years going through the necessary state, county, city planning and City Council steps to win approval to start the development. But with the passage of SOAR by Moorpark voters, Messenger is left with the investment but no way to capitalize on it. That sounds like a lot like a government taking of property rights to me.

And I fail to notice Mr. Francis and his no-growthies taking up a collection to buy Hidden Creek from Messenger, so they could do with the property what they wish. That would have been fair, but they want someone else to pay for their vision.

*

Managed and sustained growth is necessary and a good thing for a community. Ask any economist. By putting up the no-growth gates around Ventura County, all we have done is make it impossible for our children to own a home in the community in which they grew up.

Yes, property values will escalate because of SOAR. We have also handcuffed our cities economically. How are we going to attract new business when there will be no housing for lower-income workers? Why do I get the feeling that we’ve been left holding the bag?

A lot of my friends and neighbors--in fact, most of them--voted for SOAR. Well, I’m here to tell you that the last-man-in-closes-the-gate theory (also known as “I’ve got mine but no one else can come”) doesn’t work. If it had been in place just 20 years ago, practically none of us would have been able to live here and appreciate the lifestyle that is Ventura County.

So what happens next? I don’t know and I don’t think anyone at the city or county levels does. I shudder to think about the next downturn in the economy, with no new development, no new business, no new investment and no new tax revenue. What will happen to SOAR cities’ coffers then? I predict it will not be much fun for any of us.

Short of a grass-roots movement to dismantle the dangerous elements in SOAR, I think that for the next 20 years, we have made our bed and, unfortunately, we are going to have to lie in it.