SOMIS HOUSING PLAN RETURNS; DOWNSIZED DEVELOPMENT STILL OPPOSED BY AREA FARMERS : CRITICS BLAST ORIGINAL PLAN.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand Daily News Staff Writer

Withering criticism and an abrupt change in zoning law cut short an attempt two years ago to turn prime Somis agricultural land into a 189-home equestrian community.

But like a tireless farmer, Knightsbridge Holdings Inc. has replanted the idea, this time hoping a scaled-back project calling for about 85 homes can survive the county planning process.

And as sure as spring rains, criticism of the project will follow.

``Most of the residents and farmers in the area are opposed to it,'' said Craig Underwood, who grows vegetables, citrus and avocados in Somis.

Underwood says Knightsbridge could set a disturbing precedent, with county regulators ultimately favoring tract homes over tractors.

``It's an issue the county is struggling with,'' Underwood said. ``Urban encroachment is just like cooking a turtle - if you warm up the water slow enough, it doesn't realize it's being cooked.''

By most estimates, Ventura County is losing about 1,100 acres of farmland annually. This alarms farming advocates and preservationists who see a threat to the county's leading industry - one that generates more than $1 billion in annual sales and provides 20,000 jobs.

The Knightsbridge development is proposed for one of the county's major agricultural areas - the Las Posas Valley - on acreage county planners have rated as prime farmland.

Bill Mortland of Knightsbridge Holdings Inc. said developers expect and, in fact, welcome ``diligent scrutiny'' by residents and regulatory agencies concerned with farmland preservation.

``I believe in the long-term viability of agriculture in Ventura County. But when I say that, I say so long as it is economically viable,'' he said.

Mortland protests what he says is a popular misconception that Knightsbridge is a large corporation bent on laying waste to pristine farmland.

``We're farmers too,'' said Mortland, who lives with his family on the proposed development site within a 1,300-acre lemon orchard.

Knightsbridge, he said, is owned by three people, including the principal landowner, an elderly widow living in England.

County agencies including planning, public works, health and the agricultural commission are almost finished with their initial study of Knightsbridge, said Dennis Hawkins, Resource Management Agency official for the project.

A public comment period is expected to begin in August that will help planners determine what issues must be considered in completing an environmental impact report.

Knightsbridge originally called for 189 estate homes on about 200 acres of Somis orchards near Donlon and McBean roads. The planned equestrian community was to include a horse riding ring, stables, trails and a park.

The project cleared a major hurdle in July 1995 when the Board of Supervisors allowed the developers to seek an amendment to the county General Plan. The amendment would have changed the property's zoning from agricultural, requiring single homes on lots no smaller than 40 acres, to rural residential, allowing the farmland to be divided into one-acre housing lots.

The supervisors' decision, however, produced a flood of criticism from neighboring cities, farmers and Somis residents. The common concern was allowing a significant housing project in the midst of the century-old rural hamlet.

Somis already had a proud history of thwarting development, most notably by keeping the Kaiser aluminum and Aetna insurance companies from building a master-planned city called Amberton in 1971. The county Planning Commission approved the proposal calling for 35,000 homes on 10,000 acres, but the supervisors rejected it because of opposition from area residents.

Bowing to opponents of Knightsbridge, the supervisors appointed a task force in October 1995 that ultimately recommended changes to the county's Guidelines for Orderly Development. Those changes seek to control urban sprawl by limiting rural residential development to lots no smaller than two acres, compared with the previous one-acre zoning.

As a result, Knightsbridge officials were forced to scale back their original plan by reducing the number of homes from 189 to 85 and dropping a proposed sewer treatment plant for the new homes.

Hawkins predicted the project will be watched closely, as it has been in the past.

``The big issue is a determination of whether or not we want to allow an expansion of the rural community out there at the expense of agriculture,'' he said. ``If you say yes to this development, where do you draw the line?''

Farming roots run deep

Marie Donlon, whose family has been farming in the county for five generations, would draw the line deep in the fertile soil.

``I'm utterly opposed to (Knightsbridge),'' said Donlon, 84, who lives in Somis and is part owner of an orchard in the Bardsdale area. ``I don't want that land up there on Donlon Road touched - it should be kept agricultural.

``I've had lots and lots of offers from people who want to buy my property out in Bardsdale, but I'm not going to give it up.''

Donlon echoes a philosophy shared by many of her neighbors: ``Don't put houses on land that can be used for farming.''

There is also the issue of whether farmers and suburban homeowners can live alongside each other given noise, traffic and even pesticide use on fields and orchards.

``It's extremely difficult to carry on farming when you're next to any sort of urban development,'' said John Grether, a longtime Somis-area farmer. ``There are many aspects of normal farm life that are just not compatible with residential living, and that is as big an issue as the sheer number of acres available for farming.''

Compared to others, Grether is not adamantly opposed to the Knightsbridge project.

``In and of itself, it would probably not be the project that ends agriculture in Ventura County,'' he said. ``But incrementally, this would just be another point along that route.''

Looking to the future

``Most people who speak to this subject have no capital invested in or experience in agriculture,'' he said. ``They're interested in preserving open space. I'm not opposed to preserving open space, but not at the expense of someone who is trying to make a living farming.''

The 200-acre parcel to be developed has poor soil for an orchard, with only 18 inches of topsoil over clay, Mortland said. So the company has already removed all but 60 acres of the orchard and replanted more than 200 acres of new lemon trees elsewhere on the property.

And he said Knightsbridge would provide a type of rural residential housing in demand. Mortland contended the project would feature an ideal home for equestrians, with riding trails, boarding space and a nearby large-animal hospital.

``Most of the people who own horses are being urbanized out of the cities,'' he said. ``Somewhere in the county you've got to provide this, and it just happens to have a large-animal vet here.''

Yet, as the merits of the project are debated, the underlying question will remain the future of farming in the county.

Along those lines, county supervisors have set up a task force to study ways of saving agriculture. The initial recommendations are expected to reach the supervisors by the end of this year.

Knightsbridge could ultimately be the catalyst that leads to either greater or lesser restrictions on development in agricultural areas.

``The board could say no, we don't like this project; we think this area should be in a greenbelt area,'' said Hawkins, the county planner. ``Or, they could come up with an area plan for further development. Certainly, there are some precedent-setting possibilities.''

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos, Map

Photo: (1--color in SIMI and CONEJO editions only) Craig Underwood, who grows several types of produce in Somis, and many other area residents are against a proposed 85-home equestrian community in the rural area.

(2--ran in SIMI and CONEJO editions only) Somis produce grower Craig Underwood, who opposes the 85-home project, walks with his dog through one of his orchards.

Michael Owen Baker/Daily News

Map: Proposed 85 estate homes on 189 acres