La Viera pre-screen confirmed for City Council Meeting

By Richard Lieberman

Ventura City Council will hold a meeting, November 30th and on the agenda will be Regent Properties proposed La Viera project. The project proposal describes 55 luxury homes to be built on 40 acres of the Mariano Rancho in the hills above Ventura. The planning commission after a marathon public meeting, recommended that the City Council allow processing to go forward. The project has drawn considerable opposition from neighbors and residents of the city. The council can accept or reject the Planning Commission’s recommendation. According to Jeffrey J. Lambert, Community Development Department Director, and “Even if the Council accepts the recommendation, the project would not come back before he council for possible approval until 2017.”

The Mariano Rancho property is owned by about 300 individuals from different branches of the Mariano family, which has owned approximately 4000 acres in the Ventura Hillsides for over 100 years. The Regent Properties plan will make use of 215.3 acres of the Mariano property. The current plan will utilize 40 acres for the development of the 55 luxury homes. The rest of the land approximately 175 acres will be designated open space and public access will be allowed. In addition Regency announced an agreement with the Ventura Hillsides Conservancy resulting in the donation of an additional 547 acres. This agreement will mean that an additional 722 acres of public open space would be created. The development will utilize only 5% of the total land.

Regent’s Daniel Gryczman President of Development, discovered Ventura and “Instantly fell in love, “Ventura views from the hillsides just cannot be duplicated”, said Gryczman. Little by little I began to understand the potential Ventura offers”, added Gryczman. The company claims that the economic impact to Ventura will create a net positive economic output generating $7,000,000 in revenue for the city. “Part of the plan is preservation of most of the property and open space, said Gryczman. “Our goal is not to move the development line higher up than any of the developments on either side of it.”

Regent Properties is a 25 year old real estate business, founded by Alan Kohl of Kohl’s department stores, it has developed luxury, and high end properties, throughout the Southwest.

The Mariano family has attempted to develop this property at least one time before. In 2002 Amy Forbes, Esq. represented the family as they began to focus on their alternatives for divesting themselves of the property. Representatives of the family approached the city with possible uses for the property that would make sense to the city and the land owners.

The land is designated in the City’s general plan for hillside planned residential, calling for four units to the acre. The property is located in the unincorporated areas of Ventura County, except for the 215.3 acres located within City limits.

In November 2002 voters rejected a proposal that would have allowed the development of 1400 homes utilizing 730 acres on the hillsides of Ventura’s midtown district and use 3,000 acres as a private Home Owners Association controlled open space preserve. This plan included land outside the city limits, which brought it under the Hillside Voter Participation Area. Opposition to the plan included SOAR (Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources) and the Ventura Citizens for Hillside Preservation.

Differing from the 2002 plan Regent Properties plan looks to develop only the land within the Ventura City limits, and develop just 55 homes. “We will build 55 homes period.” Said Daniel Gryczman. By limiting the development to the acreage located within city limits, the project will not come up for voter approval, but will be decided by the City Council.

Regent’s current plan calls for the relocation of two water towers placing them underground removing the eyesore, and the cost will be borne by Regent Properties according to Gryczman. The Ventura High School “V” will also be located and paid for by Regent.

Jeffery Lambert community development director added “that while the goal of the Hillside Management Program is to make sure that any development done on the hillside” is done with “as little disturbance to the topography as possible,” the city recognizes the need for executive level housing to attract new business.”

Lambert also added that the pre-screen application is like an “application to proceed, and work through the process” “There appears to be no public safety issues “and in fact the addition of these homes would make the homes below safer by adding modern fire breaks ,better drainage and a new emergency access road.

Opposition to the proposed development is substantial, proponents of the development are substantial as well. Both side have generated a virtual flood of email comments to the Ventura Breeze, below is a sampling of comments received:

“The proposed La Viera project is an excellent opportunity to fill the executive home void we have been experiencing for years.”
Danny Belitski

“Some of the neighbors are claiming the sky is falling, that this will be the next La Conchita or that the pristine beauty of our hillside will be destroyed. The problem with their arguments are that none of them are based in fact.”
Aaron Gaston

There will be many more quotes in our Nov.25 issue.

Mission San Buenaventura to commemorate canonization of St. Junipero Serra

St. Junipero Serra proudly sits in front of city hall.

Pope Francis’ recent canonization of St. Junipero Serra, founder of Mission San Buenaventura (1782), will be celebrated November 21 at the historic Main Street church in downtown Ventura.

Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles will preside at a bilingual Mass, to be preceded by a 6:00 p.m. candlelight procession, starting at the site of the former Chumash Hutash Festival and San Miguel Chapel, at Thompson and Palm Streets in Ventura. The procession will conclude at Mission San Buenaventura, 211 E. Main St., at which point the Mass will begin.

A reception will be held in the Mission Garden following the Mass. General parking will be available at the Ventura County Fairgrounds (Harbor Boulevard at Figueroa Street) with shuttle transportation provided to the procession site. Additional parking is available at the Museum of Ventura County lot and the lot behind the Knights of Columbus Hall off Santa Clara Street.

Ventura City Mayor shared the history of Ventura at the Ventura Townehouse

Mayor touched on issues about land, beach, homelessness and traffic.

Cheryl Heitmann, Ventura City Mayor, was the guest speaker at the Ventura Townehouse (VTH) on Thursday, October 22. Almost one-hundred were in attendance.

Mayor Heitmann shared the history of Ventura and spoke of many projects she is working on around the city. Mayor Heitmann expressed the need for reclaimed water that is currently being tested at our local Ventura Water Pure Demonstration Facility. The Mayor said they have bus tours free to the public to visit the water plant.

She touched on issues about land, beach, homelessness and traffic concerns. The Mayor also shared how very important seniors and their concerns are since 27% of Ventura’s population are seniors and that number is growing rapidly.

She brought special attention to the city’s 150th Anniversary Celebration including projects like A Million Acts of Kindness, Partner Programs, Story Time Events at the Library, Poster Contest, Ventura Legacy Videos by

The Ventura Townehouse was a sponsor of the Kick-Off Event Sunday, held on November 8 at the Museum of Ventura County and also the 150th Anniversary Celebration to be held on Saturday, April 2.

Ventura Townehouse is also doing their part in sponsoring the 150th tile mural to be created by artist Michael Kelly. The mural will be installed on the wall in front of the Mission School. VTH will have their name placed permanently on the wall as one of the sponsors.

Ventura Townehouse residents are participating in the Million Acts of Kindness the Mayor has put up on her website at www.venturakindness.com to reach the million acts of kindness by April 2nd in time for the 150th Ventura City Anniversary.

The Ventura Townehouse’s intergenerational partnership run by Anne Howorth, VTH Activities Director, include the Pacific High School Students and VTH residents are committed to get as many acts of kindness posted on the website as possible. VTH plans to create a “Kindness Tree” to display all of the acts of kindness once they are all collected.

If you have witnessed any acts of kindness let Samantha or Anne at the Ventura Townehouse know at 642.3263 or email at [email protected]. Leave a phone number, act of kindness and a photo if possible. “Let’s share 1 million acts of kindness to celebrate Ventura’s 150th birthday!” Samantha Crisp, Director of Marketing.

Ventura Breeze’s own Cindy Summers recipient of the “One Million Acts of Kindness” award

The Ventura Breeze’s own Cindy Summers was one of the two initial recipients of the “One Million Acts of Kindness” award presented by the City of San Buenaventura. It was presented to her at the Nov. 2 City Council meeting by Mayor Heitmann. The award reads “In recognition of your heroic efforts on July 8, 2015, helping a woman and her grandchild to safety when the RV parked next to their home caught fire and you also alerted the residents of the upstairs apartment. Thank you for your act of kindness and bravery!”

We are very proud of her. The other first recipient was Ventura’s Carmel Whitman.

FACE OF VENTURA AWARDS – Elizabeth Cornejo – Local immigrant pays it forward

FACE OF VENTURA AWARDS by Sheli Ellsworth
Ventura’s Unsung Heroes sponsored by Jordan and Sandra Laby and painted by Johanna Spinks

stuff Elizabeth3 — Elizabeth Cornejo accepting her unsung hero portrait from Johanna, Sandra and Jordan at the presentation luncheon.

While Americans heard about the Sandinista Revolution and the Contra War on the nightly news, Elizabeth Cornejo heard the explosions with her own ears. “I would lie in bed at night listening to bombs. I grew up surrounded by war.” Cornejo’s father was a mechanic who supplemented his income by selling corn and beans from the mountain farms. “War destroyed everything. We had very little.” Cornejo lived close to the Honduras border and remembers running home from school and hiding under her bed for hours at a time when the sounds of war came near.

And somehow a young girl from war-torn Nicaragua had a dream. “I watched beauty pageants from Honduras on a small black and white television when we had reception. It was beautiful. The gowns, the style.” Cornejo developed a passion for fashion.

Cornejo came to Ventura by herself in 1995, moved in with a friend, and asked for political asylum. “This really is the land of opportunity,” she says. But her success didn’t happen overnight. “Even though I had a business degree from Nicaragua, I had to start over with ESL classes.” She worked as a nanny and housekeeper while she was seeking citizenship. She took computer classes. Then she went to work at Patagonia through an agency and was eventually asked to do fit modeling for them. It was five years before she was granted residency and another five years before obtaining political asylum and citizenship. Later she went to work for Marcy’s European Tailoring and Alterations. The owner, Marcy Brunson, became a mentor to Cornejo and subsequently sold her half of the business. Cornejo loves Ventura and she says she’s been lucky, “God has opened so many doors for me.” Cornejo is now the owner of Just Lovely Fashion and Alterations at 2692 Loma Vista Rd. Unit B. She does dress making, bridal alterations, tailoring and mending. But Cornejo’s story doesn’t stop here. She believes in helping.

stuff Elizabeth2 — On November 2 a luncheon was graciously hosted by the Aloha Steakhouse (364 S. California) to present Elizabeth Cornejo with her unsung hero portrait painted by Johanna Spinks. Attending the presentation honoring her were the series sponsors Sandra and Jordan Laby, Johanna Spinks, Publisher Sheldon Brown, friends Marta Helmer, Marcy Brunson Musilk, Jalideth Pastora and Gail Field (her first English teacher).

At first on her own, later with the help of her customers, Cornejo has launched her own personal charity for her country of origin. “I save my tips and buy things for the children of Nicaragua.” She takes clothing, shoes, food, medicines, school supplies and anything else that is needed.” Since Cornejo has two sisters and two brothers she also has a lot of resources in her homeland. “My family in Nicaragua helps me buy and distribute things to children and seniors. They find out what people need and try to make it happen. “My Ventura customers have been so good to give me donations and now we are trying to help a hospital. Cornejo uses Nicaraguan churches for resources also. “The nuns tell me what they need and what types of health issues they see.” Cornejo doesn’t have any children of her own, but considers the children in Nicaragua her own. Because she considers education the key to success, Cornejo has also provided several schools with much needed supplies.

Making connections has become a part of Cornejo’s mission. She was able to find a local coffee roaster, Beacon Coffee, to buy coffee beans raised by her father. Now the coffee is sold in local restaurants. “I went to the Multicultural Festival in Oxnard and answered a lot of questions about Nicaragua and created connections with many people.”

Cornejo already has local nurses interested in making the trip to Nicaragua. “After the nurses see the conditions they will know what kinds of supplies will help the most.” Cornejo is always collecting toothbrushes and toothpaste, but because shipping is so expensive she appreciates it when people can ship the items directly. She is currently looking for volunteers to send multivitamins for children and seniors.

“A little girl in 4H put together 35 backpacks with school supplies and shipped them to Nicaragua. It was like a dream come true.” Cornejo accepts cash donations also and anyone interested in helping her can email her at [email protected].

Rotary offering youth leadership opportunity

Are you a Junior or Senior at Ventura High School who would like to be selected as a local ambassador for a 4 day all expenses paid retreat in the beautiful hills of Ojai at Camp Ramah from April 14th – April 17^th? The event offers courses not often found in the regular curriculum, including diversity training, public speaking, team building, leadership fundamentals, goal setting, leading a meeting, character and ethics, facilitation, fellowship and creating good habits. Please visit www.ryla5240.com for more information and to submit your short essay application along with faxing the parental consent form to 650.0022 by November 15th. Email [email protected] with any questions.

The Nutcracker to be performed locally by the VCB

Professional dancer and Australian native, Aaron Smyth and State Street Ballet Profession, Kate Kadow to be featured in The Nutcracker

Ventura County Ballet Company (VCB) will be presenting “The Nutcracker” this holiday season featuring some of the most elite professionals across the country. This will be their 17th year of production.

Coming back for his fifth year, is international superstar Aaron Smyth who will be dancing along some of VCB’s most up and coming pre-professionals.

In addition, VCB’s commitment to provide performance opportunities to pre-professional dancers, the ballet company has announced three new scholarships to dancers based in part on financial need and artistic merit. The scholarships include Ronald Noblin, M.D. Scholarship, the Micheline Sakharoff Scholarship and the Melodie Kleiman, Esq. Scholarship. Scholarships will support performance opportunities in VCB’s 2015 production of “The Nutcracker.” The scholarship program is funded this year due to generous contributions received after the recent passing of each above-named board member; however, funding has not yet been secured to ensure that scholarships can be offered each year in the future.

VCB will present “The Nutcracker” at 2 p.m. and 7p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 21 and at 2 p.m. and on Saturday, Nov. 22 at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center, 800 Hobson Way, and again on Friday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m., Dec. 5 at 2 and 7 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 6 at 2 p.m. at the Ventura College Performing Arts Center, 4700 Loma Vista Rd.

Ticket can be purchased online at http://www.venturacountyballet.com.

Ribbon cutting held at YMCA

Photos by John Ferritto

On November 6, The Ventura Family YMCA celebrated the grand opening of their 4,000 sq. ft. full-size outdoor basketball court, 1,700 sq. ft. outdoor workout space, and a 1,000 sq. ft. play area for their Children’s Corner with a ribbon cutting ceremony.

Members had asked for more outdoor workout spaces and with the generosity of donors the Y was able to make this happen. Basketball competitions, giveaways, and activities for kids were just a few of the things at the celebration.

After the ribbon cutting the Mayor played a little one on one with former NBA Star Lamond Murray. She was too quick for him.

Other highlights of the new facility include high-tech synthetic flooring, open hours for all members to enjoy time outside, new high-intensity trainings, adult scrimmages, pickle ball, 3 on 3 basketball leagues, and even volleyball.

For 128-years the Ventura Y has been a leading non-profit and community resource for Ventura. The significance of the new Sportsplex is the Y’s response to the community’s need for more outdoor program and workout spaces.

The Y is located at 3760 Telegraph Road.

News from Community Memorial Hospital

Standardizing care in local skilled nursing facilities was the goal of a two-day training program in which nurses and other staff members participated.

Standardizing care in local skilled nursing facilities was the goal of a two-day training program in which Community Memorial Health System nurses and other staff members participated on Sept. 22-23.

Nurses and staff members of the following local skilled nursing facilities also participated in the program, Victoria Care Center, Coastal View Healthcare Center, Ventura Convalescent Hospital, Camarillo Healthcare Center, Ojai Continuing Care Center, Glenwood Care Center, Providence Ojai Gardens and Shoreline Care Center.

Community Memorial Hospital has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award with Target: StrokeSM Honor Roll Elite. The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment and success ensuring that stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.

To receive the Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award, hospitals must achieve 85 percent or higher adherence to all Get With The Guidelines-Stroke achievement indicators for two or more consecutive 12-month periods and achieved 75 percent or higher compliance with five of eight Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Quality measures.

These quality measures are designed to help hospital teams provide the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients.

Community Memorial Hospital has also met specific scientific guidelines as a Primary Stroke Center, featuring a comprehensive system for rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients admitted to the emergency department.

For patients, Get With The Guidelines-Stroke uses the “teachable moment,” the time soon after a patient has had a stroke, when they learn how to manage their risk factors while still in the hospital and recognize the F.A.S.T. warning signs of a stroke.

Community Memorial Health System has opened a Midtown Medical Group office in the Ventura, bringing healthcare to local residents.

The Midtown Medical Group – part of Community Memorial Health System – is a unique health center conveniently located in midtown, to serve the residents of Ventura while incorporating the training of the next generation of community physicians.

Midtown Medical Group is located at 2721 East Main Street, in Ventura. Office hours are Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The office offers a comprehensive referral network of doctors and specialists and access to state-of-the-art healthcare technologies at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura.

The office accepts most private and managed care insurance plans, including Seaview HMO. For an appointment, call 667-2841.

Physician and patient boundaries – Should your doctor be your friend? – will be the focus of a free Ethics in Healthcare event Community Memorial Health System is holding on Thursday Nov. 12 as part of the 2015 Speaker Series.

James Hornstein, M.D., chairman of the Bioethics Committee at Community Memorial Hospital, will moderate the panel discussion that will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Museum of Ventura County, located at 100 E. Main St.

The presentations will explore some of the historical boundaries in the doctor-patient relationship that are meant to protect patient confidentiality, trust in the profession and avoid compromised clinical judgment.

Registration is free but reservations are required. Call 1-800/838-3006, or visit www.cmhshealth.org/rsvp.

Ventura Auto Center Dealers honored for $25,000 contribution to City of Ventura’s 150th anniversary celebration

At the Ventura City Council meeting held on Nov.2, Mayor Cheryl Heitmann accepted a generous check for $25,000 from Jeff Sukay representing the Ventura Auto Center Dealers. The event kicked-off the City of Ventura’s 150th anniversary celebration. The dealers are the “Champion Sponsor”.

The Mayor also read a proclamation honoring The Ventura Auto Center Dealers for their $25,000 contribution. “We want to acknowledge the ‘historically supportive’ contributions given by The Ventura Auto Dealers over many years to our residents,” said Mayor Cheryl Heitmann in accepting the check.

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