Harvest at Limoneira could add 550 units to Santa Paula development
UPDATE: The Santa Paula City Council approved a new plan for Harvest at Limoneira on Tuesday during a special meeting. Council voted 4-0, with Councilmember Pedro Chavez recusing himself due to a conflict of interest because he lives at the property.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Santa Paula’s Harvest at Limoneira, a development planned since 2008 and in the process of being built, could add 550 units more than the original plan if the City Council gives the go-ahead on Tuesday.
The council will consider the additional housing proposed by Limoneira Lewis Community Builders, LLC at a 6:30 p.m. special meeting.
The 550 units will be in addition to the 1,500 units already approved for the project, on the eastern edge of Santa Paula. So far, 586 homes have been completed and occupied in the Haun Creek Neighborhood and Hallock Center District., and another 121 homes are under construction.
If the council approves the new plan for Harvest at Limoneira — formerly known as East Area One — the project will have a total of 2,050 units, of which 1,750 will be single-family units and 300 will be rental units.
At the Jan. 29 joint meeting, the Planning Commission voted 4-0 to approve the 550 units and move the matter for City Council consideration. Commissioner Noel Thomas Kiesewetter was absent. Councilmember Pedro Chavez recused himself from Jan. 29 meeting due to a conflict of interest because he lives at the development.
The proposed new housing would all be market-rate units. In lieu of building affordable units based on state law, the developer would agree to pay a fee that would go toward funding affordable housing.
Community Development Director James Mason said that the in-lieu fee will be $5.5 million up front toward Arrive Santa Paula, a nearby, separate affordable housing project already approved. Located on 18004 E. Telegraph Road, Arrive Santa Paula is slated for a now vacant 11 acres.
The project will have 298 apartments, with 166 proposed as deed-restricted affordable units.
“Our priority is to get affordable units built ASAP verses money paid out over time, which will have a diminishing value,” Mason said.
Ron Wu, the director of Arrive Santa Paula, said during a joint City Council and Planning Commission meeting on Jan. 29 that the $5.5 million fee would help make his project more likely to receive California tax credit funds necessary to secure funding. Wu said he is applying for the state funds in April.
“This is a really important part of our application,” Wu said. “Without this public funding source, our application would not be as competitive, and we would have lessened our ability to gain an allocation in the first round.”
Wu did not say at the meeting how much Arrive Santa Paula costs or how much money has been secured.
Mason said the city doesn't have finalized numbers for the cost to build Arrive Santa Paula and staff is "still working out the details and numbers to determine the level assistance the city will provide."
Project changes
A fire station and an elementary school were originally part of Harvest at Limoneira, but they were removed from the project years ago, Mason said.
When the project was approved, the city ran its own fire department but in July 2018, the fire department became a part of the Ventura County Fire Protection District. The county decided that a fire station at Harvest at Limoneira was not needed, Mason said. The county determined a fire station on 10th Street in the center of the city made more sense.
Now that the 1.6-acre property is no longer slated for a fire station, city officials are considering the best use, which could include a sale or lease of the property.
The plan to build a new elementary school was also scrapped because the Santa Paula Unified School District decided it was not needed due to declining enrollment.
City Manager Dan Singer said at the January meeting the school district has another property, and it can still build a school in the future.
A planned sports park, located near Santa Paula Street and Hallock Drive, will have its first phase completed with overhead lighting, a restroom and pickle ball court. The installation of turf and water features are expected to be done by March 15.
“The real link in that is that Harvest is not an enclave,” Mason said on Friday. “There’s a 36-acre sports park for the whole city. It doubles the amount of park space in the city.”
For more information on Tuesday’s meeting, visit www.spcity.org.
Wes Woods II covers West County for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at [email protected], 805-437-0262 or @JournoWes.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Harvest at Limoneira could add 550 units to Santa Paula development
