Background
On November 3, 1998, the voters of Ventura County adopted the SOAR Ordinance to protect the County’s agricultural, rural, and open space lands, to strengthen the local agricultural economy and to preserve the County’s quality of life. The SOAR Ordinance requires countywide voter approval of any change to the County’s General Plan involving the “agricultural,” “open space,” or “rural” land use designations, or any change to a General Plan goal or policy related to those land use designations. The SOAR Ordinance was set to expire in December 2020 but was extended until 2050 by voter initiative in 2016. In addition to extending the voter approval requirements of SOAR through 2050, a new provision was approved by voters to “eliminate voter approval requirements for redesignations of up to 12 acres of land countywide for processing of locally grown food.” (SOAR, §2 (1)(I)(m)).
The Planning Division has proceeded with County-initiated amendments to the General Plan and the Non-Coastal Zoning Ordinance to designate areas within the unincorporated areas of Ventura County to allow up to a maximum of 12 acres countywide for processing of locally grown food in the Open Space (OS), Agricultural Exclusive (AE) and Rural Agricultural (RA) Zones in accordance with the SOAR Ordinance.
Project Schedule
The Planning Division presented the amendments to the Planning Commission on April 4, 2024. The Planning Commission staff report and associated exhibits can be viewed at: https://vcrma.org/en/planning-commission.
The Board of Supervisors public hearing is scheduled for June 4, 2024.
Staff Contact
If you have inquiries or to sign up for notifications on this item, please contact Ms. Franca A. Rosengren, case planner, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by phone at (805) 654-2045.