Ventura County Board of Supervisors approves $1.3 million price tag for flood-damaged home
Check out the damage from the February storm
Damage from the February storm could reach $40 million.
The Ventura County Board of Supervisors this week agreed to move forward with plans to potentially purchase a flood-damaged home north of Ventura.
Storms have battered a creekside residential area near Foster Park over the past two winters, causing repeated flooding. Plans call for removing sediment and debris from Coyote Creek and rebuilding the channel to prevent further problems. But to improve flow, the county also proposed buying the badly affected property on Casitas Vista Road and demolishing the house and other buildings on it.
Studies have shown that demolition could have a positive impact on the entire canal project, said Supervisor Matt LaVere.
“I think it’s important that this purchase be completed and this property be demolished, for the sake of the overall health of this watershed and what we’re trying to accomplish there with the larger canal project,” LaVere said Tuesday during a special meeting of the county board of supervisors.
The board voted 3-0 to sign a letter of intent to purchase, a first step needed to start the process. Supervisors Jeff Gorell and Janice Parvin were absent.
County officials are expecting a grant from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to cover much of the property’s assessed value and demolition costs. If approved, funding is expected to total nearly $1.5 million.
One appraiser estimated the property’s value at $1,273,000 and a second firm confirmed the amount, county officials said Tuesday. But property owners questioned why some factors were not taken into account and asked the board to consider an increase.
How much do the property owners receive?
When storms drenched the area in January, floodwater, sediment and debris swept away the property, which includes part of the creek. The family left the area when it was evacuated. Then another wave of storms last winter made things worse.
Despite repair efforts, they were unable to return due to the damage and high water levels. They believe the property’s value before the storms should have been taken into account. The severity of the damage was at least partly caused by the county, they said. County officials disagreed.
In order for the sale to go ahead, the family had to give up a claim against the county. On Tuesday, family members agreed to do so if the county agreed to pay $1.3 million, the amount the assessor estimated based on comparable properties before reducing the amount due to storm damage.
The board approved the additional $27,000 for the letter of intent to purchase. The work on the property would benefit the entire area, board members said.
What is the schedule for the project?
Much of the neighborhood is at higher risk for flooding according to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) maps. The property proposed for sale is in the “flood channel,” an area that FEMA says should be kept free of flooding. The house predates these maps.
The committee met Tuesday in part because the project was on a tight schedule. Plans call for demolishing the buildings and digging out the creek by the end of October, before the next rainy season, said Dave Fleisch, deputy director of the county’s public works department.
But the process to buy a property involves several weeks of public notices, he said. After that, supervisors will likely consider the purchase at a September meeting. If approved, the escrow process could begin. But if the NRCS grant is not approved, county staff will not rejoin the board next month.
The overall Coyote Creek project is expected to move forward with or without the acquisition. Plans call for removing sediment from 1,000 yards of the creek, a section that flows through private property and county parkland. Workers would dig a channel about 25 feet wide and 5 feet deep.
Cheri Carlson covers the environment and county government for the Ventura County Star. You can reach her at [email protected] or 805-437-0260.
