The Ormond Beach Specific Plan is actually two separate development projects – the SouthShore Specific Plan (over 300 acres, located North of Hueneme Road), which includes residential development of over 1500 housing units, and the South Ormond Beach Specific Plan (approximately 600-acres, located South of Hueneme Road), which would include commercial and light industrial development, and the SouthShore Specific Plan.

Both developments mark a dramatic departure from the current agricultural land uses for which the area is zoned and utilized.

Project area; North of Hueneme Road. Site of South Shore Specific Plan. Photo by Linda Krop.

Project area, South of Hueneme Road. Site of South Ormond Beach Specific Plan. Photo by Linda Krop.

If these projects move forward as planned they will further degrade the Ormond Beach wetlands and drastically interfere with efforts to restore and expand the wetland area. One issue of great concern is the risk of inundation of the wetlands and greater Specific Plan area from coastal flooding and sea level rise. In March 2009, the Pacific Institute, a nonpartisan research institute, releasedThe Impacts of Sea-Level Rise on the California Coast, an analysis prepared for three California state agencies.

As this map shows, sea level rise is a significant threat for the Ormond Beach area. If the Specific Plan area is developed, that development will limit the ability of the wetlands to migrate inland in response to sea level rise, resulting in a loss of wetlands and habitat for sensitive, threatened and endangered species. Most of the Ormond Beach Specific Plan area itself could be inundated at 1.4 meters sea level rise, and it is within a 100-year coastal base flood zone.

In June 2011, the City approved the first of the two Specific Plan projects – the SouthShore Specific Plan. EDC filed a lawsuit in July 2011 on behalf of ourselves, the Sierra Club and the Environmental Coalition of Ventura County challenging this decision, because we disagree with the City of Oxnard’s conclusions that new residential, commercial and industrial development at Ormond Beach will not harm the Ormond Beach wetlands or the State's plan to restore the area.

A decision on the second project – the South Ormond Specific Plan – is still pending. You can get more information about the Ormond Beach Specific Plan and try to keep an eye on the City of Oxnard’s environmental review proceedings here.