Changing Channels

OXNARD — It is described by some as a hidden treasure, defying perceptions of this city as a farming town known mainly for its celery and strawberry fields.

For more than three decades, Channel Islands Harbor has been one of the area’s best-kept secrets, a collection of waterfront eateries and boutiques overlooking boat slips and marinas sandwiched between Oxnard and the Pacific Ocean.

But the harbor is also in a remote area, deep in the city, far from the freeway and passing visitors. It is such a well-kept secret that marina business owners say they have problems luring the steady diet of tourists that they need to survive.

Soon, Ventura County officials hope to change that.

An ambitious $170-million redevelopment plan that includes an aquarium, hotels and condominiums could pump lifeblood into an area that many merchants and officials agree has long been ignored.

But that effort, proposed as a master plan to be carried out over 20 years, has generated protests from some nearby residents who fear that the aquarium will lure the crowds, noise and traffic they have tried hard to escape.

An environmental review of the plan was recently completed, and a proposed feasibility study on the aquarium is scheduled to be commissioned soon. No details on any of the projects have been outlined. The next move is to fine-tune the environmental report so that it can be presented to the county Board of Supervisors.

But already, people are excited, saying that building an aquarium and other tourist attractions would bring much-needed money and visibility to harbor businesses hard hit by recession.

“Expansion means more boats, and the businesses around here really need that kind of boost,” said Alan Walker, manager of Coast Chandlery, a boat rental and fishing supply store.

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However, many nearby residents counter that the reason they moved to the beach communities of Silver Strand, Hollywood Beach and Hollywood by-the-Sea was to escape the crowds.

In addition, community leaders complain that they have been left out of the planning process. The aquarium, which some reports say could bring in up to 1 million visitors annually, has particularly angered some beach community residents.

“Having 1 million visitors per year coming onto Victoria Avenue is equivalent to having a Strawberry Festival here every day of the year,” said Bill Higgins, acting general manager of the Channel Islands Beach Community Services District. “It is the wrong project and the wrong location. We are willing to sit down and talk to all parties to come up with a plan and a vision for the harbor that we can all agree on.”

Built in the early 1960s, Channel Islands Harbor offers visitors a potpourri of seafood restaurants, fishing and tackle supply stores, and boat docking.

For years, officials have been talking about renovating the harbor, which brings in about $5 million a year to the county.

Last year, the county split the parks and harbor into separate departments, weaning the parks of their annual subsidy that came from harbor revenues. Those subsidies--about $1.2 million a year--will eventually flow back to the harbor, county officials say.

Siphoning off profits hurt the aging marina, county Supervisor John K. Flynn said.

“The east side of the harbor needs some considerable attention,” he said. Parts of the harbor “are pretty rundown. They are starting to look raggedy. We need to bring some visitors into the harbor . . . to make the harbor more economically vibrant.”

Mark Bacin, director of the Ventura County Maritime Museum, agrees: “It certainly needs renovation. Basically, nothing has been done down here in the last five to 10 years.”

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Some merchants say that on top of their profits being funneled off, the harbor has been deprived of good marketing and needs signs pointing tourists in their direction.

Since it is located between Victoria Avenue and Channel Islands Boulevard, miles from the Ventura Freeway, access for out-of-towners is somewhat of a problem, several business owners said. Last winter, business owners created the nonprofit Channel Islands Harbor Marketing Inc. to create a planning and marketing strategy for the harbor.

In addition, the city of Oxnard is proposing its own downtown redevelopment plan that would include better signs and directions to the harbor from downtown Oxnard and the freeway.

“It’s absolutely vital to Oxnard’s hospitality industry,” said Steve Kinney, director of Oxnard’s Economic Development Corp. Kinney added that the city and county are planning a study to determine how much tax revenue Oxnard receives from the harbor.

Yet, some people are skeptical that the renovations and development will even occur. They have been waiting too long for the changes and have been disappointed year after year.

A representative from the local fishing industry said it is upsetting to see the county willing to spend so much money on big projects while their own needs have been ignored for years.

“We were talking about this before any aquariums,” said Brian Jennison, spokesman for the Ventura County Commercial Fishermen’s Assn. “Where are these long-overdue facility renovations that the county has promised? Why is the wharf falling apart? Are they going to keep growing and changing, and are they going to keep forgetting us time and again?”

Some critics of the proposed expansion plan say the county’s recently completed environmental impact report is deficient, lacks public input and could harm local wildlife. The California Coastal Commission submitted five pages of comments and concerns to the county regarding the environmental report, saying it would decrease recreational opportunities.

According to the minutes of last week’s Channel Islands Beach Community Services District board meeting, Lyn Krieger, the county’s recently appointed director of beaches and harbors, said the report did need some enhancements and changes.

Krieger did not return repeated phone calls.

Some residents and board members with the Channel Islands district say their concerns have not been addressed and that the environmental report should not go to the Board of Supervisors without additional public comment on the proposed changes.

“None of the people in the community were ever invited to sit on the [harbor redevelopment] committee,” said Vickie Finan, a board member with the community services district. “The district is not satisfied, the residents are not satisfied, the [harbor] lessees are not satisfied. All the people that are ultimately going to be living and working here are not satisfied.”

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But since detailed plans for any of the projects have not been finalized, Flynn said these critics are jumping the gun and are not looking out for the county’s best interests.

“They . . . shoot from the hip,” he said. “They don’t care how many people they hurt in the process. . . . You’ve got a lot of selfishness down there.”

Regardless of the debate, harbor merchants hope that some changes come soon.

“It really has been neglected,” said Edward Noel, owner of Reflections Bath & Body at Fisherman’s Wharf. “We do need help.”