For more than 50 years Camarillo has been and remains a wonderful family-oriented city, blessed with numerous assets such as a year-round temperate climate, moderately priced housing, highly rated public schools, a major state university, a diverse population, minimal public safety issues, little traffic congestion, preserved open spaces, numerous sports, and public parks, an old-town shopping, and restaurant district, a Farmer's Market, a large premium outlet mall, proximity to sandy ocean beaches, a nearby major deep water port, access to a major freeway, nearby international airports and an economic base supported by a variety of industries and numerous small businesses with available areas zoned for future growth of manufacturing, high tech companies, and office space.
Historically the City has been well situated for substantial economic growth that should bring good companies with high-paying jobs to Camarillo. Unfortunately for years, the City has been operating without a clear vision for its future. Many residents of Camarillo hold on to its past and its rural identity and are adverse to change. During the past 20 years, Camarillo has not aggressively leveraged its many assets and pursued manufacturing and the clean industries of the future such as high tech, biotech, robotics, and artificial intelligence. Some of the larger employers like Imation (3M) and Blue Cross have moved out of Camarillo taking their high-paying jobs to other cities and states.
During the past 5 years, Camarillo has also experienced a steady annual decline in sales tax revenues derived from local retail sales. While the nation and most surrounding cities grew economically during the past decade, Camarillo lost major companies and good-paying jobs and the decline is projected to continue over the next ten years.
Despite its low unemployment rates, Camarillo's overall economy, like Ventura County's, is spiraling downward in decline. The Center for Economic Research and Forecasting at California Lutheran University has determined that Ventura County has experienced continuous negative economic growth over the past ten years and is in a recession. As average wages drop and the cost of living increases, the middle-class shrinks, and residents begin to leave. A high cost of living coupled with anemic economic growth is not a recipe for prosperity.
Camarillo is following the general economic trend found throughout most of the United States. Camarillo's manufacturing base continues to be in steep decline and it is being replaced mostly with service industry jobs and to a lesser extent information technology jobs. Over the past ten (10) years, jobs found within sectors of the manufacturing base declined by fourteen to twenty percent (14% - 20%) while service jobs grew by seven to fifteen percent (7% - 15%). This trend is extremely harmful to a local economy because manufacturing jobs pay much more than service jobs.
In short Camarillo continues to replace its high paying manufacturing jobs with average salaries of approximately $100,000 per year with service jobs paying average salaries of approximately $22,000 per year. The projected trend suggests the gap will accelerate in years to come.
Camarillo's population continues to increase and become more diverse. Slow job growth, coupled with relatively low unemployment, means fewer residents can become part of the workforce. Camarillo is also becoming an older community with more retirees who are using the proceeds from decades of work to enjoy Camarillo's enviable quality of life. The question that must be addressed is whether Camarillo's future economy will produce enough good paying jobs to retain its young workers and achieve prosperity.
The cost of living in Camarillo is high and jobs paying a "living wage" are not plentiful. It is now extremely difficult for young workers to support a family given the type of jobs readily available. Camarillo continues to wrestle with its desire to balance (A) environmental concerns and preserve open space and (B) its need for affordable and moderate-priced housing that is available for a range of incomes against (C) the economic priorities necessary to attract good companies that bring high paying jobs.
According to a study by Cal Lutheran University, only "Entry-level Education (is) Required for (the) Top 50 Projected High Demand Jobs by the Year 2024 in Ventura County." "Sixty percent" (60%) of all new jobs will require "less than a high school degree" and "twenty-two percent" (22%) of all new jobs will require only a "High School Diploma or Equivalent".
Yet we can expect more than "seventy percent" (70%) of all new jobs to pay the new minimum wage of $14.00 per hour and to be in the categories of farmworkers and laborers, Crop, Nursery and Greenhouse, Retail Salespersons, Combined Food Preparation and Serving Workers including Fast Food, Cashiers, Waiters, and Waitresses.
This economic scenario is playing out now and it condemns most of Camarillo's young people to a bleak future of economic stagnation and dwindling financial resources. For most of Camarillo's children and young adults, future employment opportunities will be severely limited. Most of Camarillo's children, those that graduate from high school and those that go on to college, will have to look elsewhere to find good paying jobs. These children are the greatest asset for the future of the Camarillo community. As this scenario plays out in years to come, we will lose most of our best and brightest children who seek employment elsewhere.
Camarillo should (1) aggressively pursue a city-wide Economic Development strategy designed to attract companies in industries with the brightest future; (2) promote Workforce Development by partnering with the education and business sectors to develop intern and apprenticeship programs, career pathways and specialized education for children and young adults; (3) revitalize "Old-Town" and create a planned development for a mixed use commercial-residential improvement zone in the City's core area; (4) preserve its designated Open Space to prevent its loss to urban sprawl; (5) reduce street traffic congestion and increase city-wide public transportation; (6) establish Camarillo as a destination city for tourism and entertainment, rather than stagnate economically as a bedroom community; (7) increase city access to water resources and increase water storage; (8) upgrade senior health/exercise facilities, meal-nutrition programs and social programs and (9) reduce city regulation and provide a liaison to assist businesses and residents seeking to comply with city rules, licensing, permits and procedures.
The future of Camarillo is not yet written. We can hold on to the values and community assets we cherish and build a better Camarillo for our children based on family values, high quality education, economic development, good high paying jobs, open space and a balanced housing strategy.
The City of Camarillo needs a balanced strategy to increase housing. There exists a growing housing crisis in Camarillo. People of all ages struggle to fulfill the most primary need for their families: the shelter of a home.
It is a generally accepted fact that a high level of homeownership is an important factor in raising the quality of life for homeowners and an entire community. Habitat for Humanity, a local nonprofit organization did a survey of homeowners in May 2020 to assess the long-term positive impact of homeownership. The results of the survey revealed that because of homeownership: 100% of respondents said their overall sense of safety and wellbeing improved; 92% said their children’s grades improved; 85% said at least one of their children surpassed their parents' educational level; 84% said their children’s behavior at school improved; 79% said they experienced an improvement in their health; 79% said their incomes increased; 61% said they increased college/educational savings for their children; 50% said their retirement and/or household savings increased; 30% said they increased their own educational level.
The chief problem in acquiring a home is affordability, especially in a desirable area like Camarillo. With demand outstripping supply, home prices and rents have been on a ten-year upward trajectory resulting in longer commutes for working residents and young adults moving to other cities or out of state due to the high cost of living.
The cost of living is high but jobs paying a "living wage" are not plentiful. The medium income in Camarillo is approximately $46,000 per year for an individual and $92,000 for a family.
The current "living wage" for Ventura County is estimated to be approximately $14.63 per hour. Yet we can expect more than seventy percent (70%) of all new jobs to pay less than $11.00 per hour.
Throughout Ventura County 1 in 4 families spends more than 50% of what they earn on housing and less than 28% of residents can afford to purchase a median-priced home.
It is now extremely difficult for workers to support a family given the type of most jobs available here. The question remains whether Camarillo's economy can produce the necessary high-paying jobs for today's young workers to remain in Camarillo and achieve prosperity. The City of Camarillo and the County of Ventura are presented with unique challenges related to this crisis. With abundant acreage devoted to farms and ranches, a national forest, and coastline, much of the city and county is off-limits to development, either by necessity or by choice. Political forces across the county resist large-scale developments, and that resistance is codified in SOAR, the acronym for Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources, a set of laws intended to give voters the final say on development projects planned for large specified areas of open space and/or farmland. Camarillo's population continues to increase so slow job growth, coupled with relatively low unemployment, means fewer residents are part of the workforce. Camarillo is becoming an older community with more retirees who are using the proceeds from decades of work to enjoy Camarillo's enviable quality of life. Young adults have not earned that luxury.
If governments and developers want to meet the demand for housing, jobs, and other expansion in the region, they have two choices: (A) Increase the allowable level of density of land already urbanized or (B) zone more rural land for urbanization. Developing rural land decreases the amount of farmland and open space, threatens the viability of the agricultural industry and could harm the local environment, and rob residents of places for outdoor recreation. On the other hand, refusing to develop rural land puts pressure on existing urban spaces and public and elected officials frequently reject increasing density within those existing urban areas.
The 2019 Ventura County Civic Alliance, State of the Region Report states that average rents climbed 41.2 percent (41.2%) between 2014 and 2018. Currently, only 28 percent (28%) of residents can afford to purchase a median-priced home (down from 47 percent (47%) in 2012).
Ventura County’s median home price hit $589,000 in 2018, which is 6.7 percent (6.7%) higher than the year before and the fourth straight year of rising prices. Prices in 2018 approached the peak of the real estate boom of 2006 when the median price in Ventura County topped $600,000. That peak of 2006 was followed by five years of steep decline during the great recession, bottoming out at $356,000 in 2011.
Since 2011, home values in Camarillo have continued to increase up to and including the present time. In 2019, Ventura County was the 3rd most unaffordable housing market in the country, all of this happening before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. By February 2019 the median price of homes in Camarillo had risen to $597,000 and despite the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, home prices surged upward during 2020 and the upward trend continues through the first half of 2021.
Politics matter at least as much as economics when it comes to urbanization. The development rate of rural land slowed noticeably after 1995 when Ventura County voters passed growth control laws collectively known as SOAR. In 2017, voters extended these measures through the year 2050, decreasing the likelihood that Ventura County will see 1980s-style sprawl development anytime soon. *Update as of 2022 Ventura County is now the 3rd most unaffordable housing market in the country.
However, as restrictive as the SOAR measures are meant to be, they are not silver bullets that guarantee none of the open space and agricultural areas in Camarillo or the County will be saved from the urbanization of low-income high-density housing.
Homeownership is the primary way for families in the U.S. to build wealth. Homeowners that have owned their home for at least seven years have historically seen an increase in their property's value. Homeowners with affordable mortgages, therefore, enjoy an increase in equity over time helping them achieve financial security and upward economic and social mobility.
Home values are important to people who own homes and those who want to buy them. When prices rise, homeowners see their net worth balloon along with their home equity but renters see the dream of homeownership slip away. When prices drop, homeowners lose equity and can find it hard to sell their homes, while persons looking to buy benefit as more homes come into their price range.
Camarillo continues to wrestle with balancing (A) environmental concerns and our desire to preserve open space with (B) the need for affordable housing that is available for a range of incomes against (C) economic priorities to attract good industries with high paying jobs.
In order to resolve its growing housing crisis Camarillo should (1) develop a balanced housing strategy to increase the inventory of low, moderate, and high valued homes; (2) promote in-fill housing development within existing neighborhoods; (3) create a planned development mixed-use commercial-residential improvement zone in the City's core area; (4) create a city-wide home repair and low-interest loan program to assist seniors, veterans, disabled persons and other homeowners with low to moderate incomes to safely remain in their homes over the long-term so that it upgrades neighborhoods and preserves the quality of housing; (5) preserve the City's designated Open Space to prevent its loss to urban sprawl; and (6) advocate for policies and grant funding at the local, state and federal levels that can be leveraged to create more affordable housing for struggling families.
The unique identity of Camarillo as a bountiful quasi-rural community is exemplified by its commitment to preserve its remaining open space on the south easterly edge of the city for future generations against transitory short-term political decisions.
In an effort to codify this commitment Camarillo voters passed Measure J in 2016, an ordinance commonly referred to as Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources (SOAR) that amended the Camarillo General Plan extending its development restrictions from 2016 to 2050. The stated purpose of SOAR is to ensure this open space is not prematurely or unnecessarily converted to other non-agricultural or non-open space uses without public debate and a vote of the people.
It is a common but mistaken belief that SOAR protects this large area of open space from urban sprawl. Unfortunately, Measure J actually provides that the City Council, without a vote of the people, may amend the SOAR ordinance to permit amendment of the General Plan in order to change the land use designation to accommodate lands to be designated for residential uses. It specifically provides that solely by a vote of the City Council this large area of open space may be changed to create new low and very low-income housing.
This amendment procedure is exactly what the people of Camarillo thought they had voted to guard against. During 2020 and 2021 the City Council has shown a pattern of amending the General Plan to accommodate new housing projects, e.g. 158 homes approved to be built on 20 acres of farmland located west of Springvale Drive (November 2020) and approximately 250 units of apartments to be built on vital high tech/manufacturing land north of U.S. 101 located at the easterly edge of the city (2021). In the Fall of 2021, it is expected the City Council will again vote on amending the General Plan to change six holes of the golf course located at Camarillo Springs into additional high-density housing. The current makeup of the City Council suggests that they are at most one vote short of achieving a majority that will forever change the city's cherished open space into additional urban sprawl.
The open space and farmland in the southeasterly portion of the city is the soul of Camarillo. It gives the city its unique feel and identity. These lands have achieved international acclaim, enhancing the City's economy and reputation. They must be protected from current and/or future transitory city council members pushing their own agendas. Unless abated all of this land and Camarillo's identity could be lost forever to urban sprawl within a five-year period.
Fortunately, Measure J provides its own solution to the threat of urbanization of the open space. The provisions of Measure J, relating to the lands within the Conejo Creek Voter Participation Area, do not apply if the land is converted to a public park.
In order to save the lands designated under SOAR as open space for all time (1) a public-private partnership should be formed for the purpose of preserving the open space for the enjoyment and benefit of all persons; (2) a publicly held private corporation should be formed for the sole purpose of developing a financially sustainable botanical garden park; (3) the city should acquire ownership of all lands restricted by SOAR in the southeasterly area of Camarillo; (4) all of the lands including contiguous property currently owned by the city (except for its water treatment plant) should be leased to the private corporation and (5) the botanical garden park should be developed, managed and operated as a world class entertainment destination under the terms of a long term lease/management agreement between the private corporation and the city.
Ownership of the private corporation should be offered first to all residents of Camarillo. The operation of the park would financially benefit the City of Camarillo through the receipt of lease payments and city-wide economic growth. Upon the ultimate expiration of the lease/management agreement, the city would own all of the land and park improvements. In this manner, the land would become economically prohibitive for politicians and real estate developers to pursue residential development.
You can read the entire City of Camarillo Measure J - ordinance No. 1134 by clicking the bottom below
Camarillo's current mandated water restrictions are, at most, a stop-gap "solution"
that will cost local residents far more than these restrictions are worth. The middle
class, seniors, and low-income families will be hit the hardest by these and future
restrictions. Will their sacrifice solve the State's water supply crisis?
Charts and Graphs from State of the Region Reports of Ventura County Civic Alliance and The Center for Economic Research and Forecasting at California Lutheran University.
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Copyright © 2021 Tim Sprinkles for Camarillo City Council 2022 - All Rights Reserved.
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