- To Cut or Not To Cut; it may be a question parents ask of their eight-day-old male offspring, but it is a real hot topic in the ville of Oxnard.   Curb cuts are needed within the City of Oxnard.  This is a fact and judging by the approximately 150+ people that showed up to the September 7th meeting, the City is only scratching the surface in attempting to reach out to residents who are concerned about the curb cuts and having access to their property in order to park their privately owned vehicles. 

Yet the City does not trust its residents and suspects most curb cuts will lead to all front lawns becoming covered over by concrete and every single dwelling within the City requesting that driveway access be granted to them.

The City of Oxnard will have to do more than hold two public meetings within the two neighborhoods that seem to be clamoring the most.  If it is true that the City issued its last curb cut permit in 1992, it will take more than two meetings and a few weeks for the City to come up with a fair and equitable solution to this lingering and festering problem.  City officials propose to have a remedial policy drafted and ready to send to the City Council before the November elections.  It is my opinion, that rushing this is not smart, nor good, and the City staff should wait for the results of the election and bring this issue to the new Council in January 2007.  As it stands, what the City wants to do will not fix the problem, but only exacerbate it. 

Mayor Holden, speaking the capacity crowd said, "I understand the issues and I do have concerns about it."  The issues are illegal encroachment upon city property by illegal curb cuts and permitted versus non-permitted cuts or the unauthorized home-made ramps which were confiscated by the Code Compliance Department several months ago.  The seizure of the ramps created a battle cry by residents when then came home and found out they could not drive up onto their property as they had been doing previous to the City's enforcement actions.  Mayor Holden, realizing this being a quality of life issue, allowed the crowd to speak and the city take notes at this, their first meeting on the hot topic.

Situations demanding a policy be set forth were outlined by Ken Ortega, Public Works Director.
He listed:  1) Alley safety and general condition - which meant that properties having alley access were designed for property owners to use their alley for garage or parking.  2)  Too many vehicles per household.  The City is looking at drafting a provision within their ordinance to limit the number of cars based on the numbers of bedrooms, as they are now doing with permits for new construction.
In similar fashion, the City wants to expand its parking permit program.  With a permit limit per household, this will cut down on the number of cars on the street. Yet, as the City discovered, with every regulation comes a series of various responses which are vast unanticipated.  As cited, with the height restrictions for on-street parking, most RVs went from the street onto the front lawns of homeowners who had invested in a recreational vehicle and needed a place to put it. So, in creating any final solution to curb cuts and ramps, the City needs to take more time than two weeks to gather public input and to carefully review the needs and craft an ordinance that solves more problems than it creates.

With such a hot topic festering while the City plays with the scab, it would behoove the City to take more time for input, make sure they are looking at all aspects of the issue and delaying their decision to formally finalize a policy that regulates how we park and use our cars within corporate limits of Oxnard.

James Payne, who came to be vocal and give this issue a voice of the citizens, after hearing the words of city workers, asked the city workers if the citizens could vote on this issue.  "Yes you can, but," came the reply "we will draft a policy, the City Council will look at it, and they will vote on it."  "So what you're telling me is..." retorted Payne, "that we don't get to vote on it, the City Council does.....that ain't fair!"

In reply to Mr. Payne, we may not have a city-wide referendum on this single issue, but you do have a vote, this November 7th.  That is your vote.  You can change the political landscape of Oxnard and put on the Council people whom you feel will be more responsive should you feel or fear the current council cannot fairly assess this issue, your needs, and what it is like to have to deal with the issue of needing a curb cut when the city where you live may feel differently about it and act on it.

Bill Winter
Editor - Oxnard Journal