This hillside development proposal is not a good deal for the citizens of Ventura. The developer wrote this complex initiative exclusively without the city council negotiating any of the normal protections for the taxpayers. The deal to exchange open space for development rights masks many hidden benefits for the developer and potential problems for the taxpayers. For example, it requires the city council to waive certain fees and it exempts the project from the city's Residential Growth Management Program and the Hillside Management Plan. The city council will not be able to change even one word of this complex 165-page initiative in order to protect the taxpayers.

Additionally, the traffic impacts of 1,390 homes and more than 13,000
additional daily car trips pouring out of the hillsides will hurt our quality of life by choking our already crowded streets. Overall, Measure A asks for blanket voter approval to develop many of the most prominent hillside areas without adequately addressing Ventura's traffic problems, affordable housing problems, and important issues such as water and firefighting services in the remote canyons and hillsides. Incredibly, none of the housing qualifies as affordable, when Ventura faces an affordable housing crisis.

Developing our hillsides is one of the most important decisions we will make. Before we make this decision, we need the full disclosure that only an Environmental Impact Report can provide on the effects on our water supply, traffic, etc.

VENTURA CAN DO MUCH BETTER THAN MEASURE A. Let's wait and save our approval for proposals that disclose environmental impacts and provide solutions up front, proposals that have been negotiated by our city council to assure taxpayer protection, and proposals that adequately address Ventura's overall housing needs. We respectfully ask you to vote NO on Measure A.

Signed by:
Brian Brennan, Ventura City Councilmember
Joy Kobayashi, Sierra Club Los Padres Chapter
Martha Zeiher, President, Ventura Citizens for Hillside Preservation
Steve Bennett, Ventura County Supervisor
William Fulton, Writer/Urban Planner

Rebuttal to Argument Against Measure A
Author, Doug Halter
As citizens who have carefully studied Measure A, we strongly disagree with the statements made by the opponents. The City Attorney's independent analysis of Measure A also refutes the opponents' claims. His report confirms that the city MUST prepare an Environmental Impact Report and address concerns such as traffic, water and fire fighting services. The City Attorney notes that if these concerns are not properly addressed, the City Council has the absolute right to say no.

Don't take our word for it. Read the City Attorney's report. Measure A is a good deal for the citizens of Ventura because it offers real benefits now, not future promises. Measure A creates 32 acres of new recreational facilities and playgrounds for our children. Measure A protects the scenic beauty of our community. It prohibits development on 3,000 acres of prime hillsides forever.

Measure A puts an absolute cap on the number of homes that can be built in the hillsides. Measure A addresses some (of) our worst traffic problems by providing crucial new funds to reduce congestion on streets and arteries in the hillsides. Some politicians promise they will deliver a "better deal" in the future. But so far, they have nothing to offer. Over the last six years, while Measure A has been carefully and thoughtfully planned, those same politicians have not come up with a single concrete proposal. For more parks, recreational facilities, and a comprehensive plan to control hillside growth and traffic, we respectfully ask you to Vote Yes on Measure A.

Signed by:
Bruce Vincent, Founder, Ventura City SOAR initiative
Sheri Vincent, Founder, Ventura City SOAR initiative
Doug Halter, Former Commissioner, Ventura Parks and Recreation Commission
Loretta Merewether, Former Chair, Ventura YMCA
Darlene Benz, Senior Citizen Representative to the Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee

Argument in Favor of Measure A
Author, Doug Halter
We looked very carefully at all the facts and decided to support Measure A because Measure A will provide vitally needed recreational facilities and playgrounds for our children, protect the scenic beauty of our hillsides, control growth and address traffic problems, all at no cost to the taxpayers.

Here's what community leaders say about Measure A:

Measure A will create 32 acres of new city parks and provide much needed recreational facilities including ballfields and playgrounds for our children and grandchildren.
Jack Woodruff, Coach, Foothill Little League

I support Measure A because it preserves Two Trees and over 3,000 acres of surrounding habitat of the area's most beautiful trees, grasslands and trails and ends the potential for development on that land forever.
Susan Williams, Environmental Scientist & Naturalist

Measure A is a gift to our children and their children. If it passes, land that was private and off limits will be forever open to all of us for hiking, biking and other outdoors activities.
Bill Fairfield, Past Chairman, Ventura County Boy Scouts

Measure A makes sense for Ventura. It forever restricts the number of homes that can be built to 1,390 on a property that could otherwise someday accommodate many more thousands of homes. It's hard to imagine a better plan for our city's future.
Dr. Robert Ryan, Pediatrician

Some of us supported the SOAR initiative to stop urban sprawl and give voters a voice in these decisions. In fact, two of us are the founders of SOAR. Just like SOAR, Measure A gives voters a chance to control growth and decide where it belongs.

After you review the facts, we hope that you will join us and VOTE YES on Measure A to create more parks, protect trees and grasslands and limit hillside development.

Signed by:
Bruce Vincent, Founder, Ventura City SOAR initiative
Sheri Vincent, Founder, Ventura City SOAR initiative
Doug Halter, Former Commissioner, Ventura Parks and Recreation Commission
Loretta Merewether, Former Chair, Ventura YMCA
Darlene Benz, Senior Citizen Representative to the Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee

Rebuttal to Argument in Favor of Measure A
Author, Martha Zeiher
In spite of the open space provision, Measure A is still not a good deal for the taxpayers. Fortunately, the voters will decide if this extensive development proposal is right for Ventura. The decision needs to be made on the impact of the whole initiative, not just the alluring open space.

Concerned citizens, planning experts, civic leaders and Ventura County SOAR, Inc., have studied this initiative thoroughly and concluded, for the following reasons, overall, Measure A is simply not a good deal for Ventura. Because this measure was written exclusively by the developer, without city council negotiations, it is biased and does not provide adequate protection for the taxpayers.

This project exempts itself from city policies already in place to protect the hillsides and regulate housing growth. The project does not build any qualified affordable housing for Ventura.

Measure A does not adequately address the impacts of this massive
development on our water supply, traffic congestion, and our firefighting capacity in this remote area.

Measure A allows development covering miles of the most prominent hillsides adjacent to Ventura, yet, because an EIR has not been done, the environmental effects are not known as we go to the polls. Ventura's Voter Hillside Participation Measure (Measure P, passed in November 2001), ensures us the right to vote on hillside development until 2031. Let's wait and use our vote carefully for a better deal to protect
this special place.

Please vote NO on Measure A.

Signed by:
Brian Brennan, Ventura City Councilmember
Joy Kobayashi, Sierra Club Los Padres Chapter
Martha Zeiher, President, Ventura Citizens for Hillside Preservation
Steve Bennett, Ventura County Supervisor
William Fulton, Writer/Urban Planner