Speech to City Council  April 25, 2006  

I am requesting that City Council does not certify the EIR for the North Fillmore Specific Plan or amend the General Plan or Change Zoning or approve Tract Map TT5422.

I have read this EIR and there are too many really significant impacts. The mitigation measures, whether they are considered a real solution or just fees in lieu of a solution will not serve the citizens of Fillmore.

For example, noise impacts. Noise impact N2 and corresponding mitigation N2b states that “air conditioning or mechanical ventilation system in all units so that windows and doors may remain closed. This is not a reasonable or realistic mitigation.

I appreciate the time and money that SunCal has invested in this project. They are entitled to make a profit but only if the many significant impacts can truly be mitigated and not be so destructive to the area and lead to more people leaving because the quality of life is degrading.

I propose that a new plan be conceived that truly honors and respects our heritage and serves the residents and future residents of Fillmore. This plan would re-zone the majority of North Fillmore as RR or rural ranch as proposed in the Goodenough Road expansion plan of no more than 300 high end homes. Fillmore has an abundance of all income ranges of homes except for the very high end. A smaller parcel could be zoned RM to include low and very low income housing. This could fulfill all of the objectives to eliminate blight and create an attractive, financially viable neighborhood of inclusionary housing. The infrastructure costs would be less and the incremental tax base would be the same. Three hundred 1.5 million dollars homes would generate as much tax base as 894 $500,000 homes. And most importantly, this reduced density would truly be a superior alternative with far less environmental impacts.

I have never been to a city meeting until the past week. The current pace and volume of development is out of control and I am becoming concerned. I don’t think anyone in Fillmore is no-growth or NIMBY, but we do expect the place we live to have reasonably clean air, water and traffic standards. We also should not have to increase our debt levels to an unreasonable amount to finance these projects. The increased development in the past 15 years does not appear to have paid for itself. Fillmore used to have it’s own police department a pool and gave it’s teachers regular raises. I want to see data showing that we are getting a reasonable rate of return on our tax dollar investments. What incremental benefit have we gotten from past developments?

Vision 2020 was supposed to be the document that guides the General Plan that guides the Specific Plan, which guides the developers. The reality appears to be backwards as the list of proposed actions of the public hearings requests a general plan change and zoning change to accommodate the specific plan.