Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Housing Element topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Ventura delays housing-element ordinance after council members raise conflicts, ask for more review
Summary
City staff presented updates to zoning rules to implement Housing Element Program 19—allowing emergency shelters, low-barrier navigation centers and supportive/transitional housing under new state laws—but councilmembers raised property-conflict questions and asked the city attorney for a legal review; the council continued the ordinance to July 14 for further vetting.
City staff presented proposed zoning and Municipal Code amendments on June 23 intended to bring Ventura into compliance with three state laws—Assembly Bills 139, 101 and 2162—by creating clearer, ministerial pathways for emergency shelters, low-barrier navigation centers and supportive housing.
Grant White, acting senior planner, told the council the changes would designate by-right locations for emergency shelters in some high-density areas and change parking and permitting standards so projects would be reviewed under state timelines. Staff cited the city’s 2026 point-in-time count of 280 unsheltered residents and said the state-square-footage standard implies a minimum local need of roughly 56,000 square feet of shelter space.
The presentation drew immediate questions about maps and potential homeowner or council conflicts. Several councilmembers said their residences or properties they own appeared within zones affected by the proposal and asked whether they should recuse themselves. The mayor and two other members said they planned to seek advice from the city attorney. Deputy Mayor Halter said the by-right sites had been narrowed from a broader downtown area to specific T4.3/T4.3.5 and Eastside Workplace subzones after input from the Housing & Homelessness Subcommittee.
Several neighbors also addressed the council during public comment about other issues on the agenda. After deliberation, the council voted to continue first reading of the ordinance to the July 14 meeting to allow the city attorney and staff to review property-ownership and recusal questions and to provide additional mapping clarity.
What’s next: staff will return with responses to council legal questions and any map clarifications ahead of the July 14 continuation. The council’s recorded vote to continue included five yes votes and two members recorded as recused for that item.
