Initiative: Ventura County Wildlife Movement Corridors

In January 2017, in a 3-2 vote, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors advised the Planning Division to study potential new restrictions and regulations covering 420,000 acres, approximately 30% of Ventura County. This includes 164,000 acres of both public and private property that cuts through the heart of Ventura County, naming it the Habitat Connectivity and Wildlife Movement Corridors. Then, in August of 2018, the County of Ventura proposed to add additional restrictions and regulations. The Ventura County Supervisors plan to create a Habitat Connectivity Wildlife Corridor Overlay Zone which imposes a myriad of new regulations and restrictions for landowners. Within that zone they would identify additional overlay areas and title them “Critical Wildlife Passage Areas” that includes even more restrictions. Essentially Ventura County properties could be subject to 3 sets of zoning regulations: The base set of zoning regulations depending on category for example, residential, commercial, rural, agricultural - The Habitat Connectivity and Wildlife Movement Corridor zone - The Critical Wildlife Passage Areas - The impact of this on landowners and the community will be devastating. The new restrictions and regulations on both public and private property encompass: - Fencing, installation or replacement - Lighting, installation or replacement including removal of existing lighting no longer permitted under the conditions of the new ordinance. Other lighting restrictions will be enforced including height, direction, color and hours - Eliminating non-native invasive plants - Restricting vegetation removal, including fire prevention and mitigation measures - Designation of wildlife passage areas across farmland with no scientific studies - Building of new structures and fencing on properties in the Wildlife Passage Areas would require environmental analysis or setting aside half of the land to revert to its natural state for wildlife habitat - Awarding the Planning Director the discretionary power to control (and even deny) every aspect of basic property improvements that are not specifically exempt from the ordinance - Requiring land owners to undergo a full environmental analysis of projects including, houses, barns, lighting and fences before approval - Expanding the size of “surface water area buffer zones” rendering many properties virtually unusable - Conditional Use Permits will be in jeopardy of non-renewal once they expire - Preventing land owners from making improvements or rebuilding property like fencing, barns and homes if damaged by fire or other natural disasters In the spring of 2019, The Ventura County Coalition of Labor, Agriculture and Business (V CoLAB) filed a suit in in Superior Court in the County of Ventura asking the Court to set aside the County's 3-2 approval of the Wildlife Corridor zoning ordinance. Learn More about this concerning situation: https://protecttheharvest.com/news/30-of-ventura-county-facing-prohibitive-and-dangerous-regulations/