Channel Islands Boating Center Clears Hurdle

A Ventura County committee Monday approved environmental reviews of a proposed boating instruction center at Channel Islands Harbor, clearing the way for a final decision on the project by the Board of Supervisors.

Support for the 26,000-square-foot center was not unanimous, with one of the six-member Environmental Report Review Committee dissenting.

Melinda Talent said she was concerned that some parts of the 300-page environmental report appeared to conflict with land-use polices and regulations governing the harbor.

However, a consultant hired by the county Harbor Department said the inconsistencies are a result of imprecise language in the Public Works Plan, the document governing the harbor’s growth.

The county’s attorneys have scoured the environmental report and found that all parts of it are in compliance with county laws, said consultant Andi Culbertson.

That did not satisfy Talent, an environmental health employee, who cast the sole “no” vote.

Committee members declined a suggestion by Chairman Bruce Smith to include a finding that the proposed Bluefin Circle location was environmentally superior to alternatives studied in the report.

The committee, made up of staff from various county departments, is charged with deciding whether environmental studies for building projects contain sufficient information to meet state environmental law and guide policymakers.

The report next moves to the Board of Supervisors for consideration. Supervisors probably will take the issue up Dec. 16, said Lyn Krieger, the harbor’s director.

The $6-million boating center, which would be operated by the county, would offer sailing and marine ecology courses in partnership with Cal State University Channel Islands.

It was proposed in 2000 but has been delayed by heavy criticism from environmentalists and residents who live close to the favored location.

They have assailed the Bluefin Circle site on a number of grounds, successfully pushing for the environmental studies after pointing out that blue heron nests could be disturbed by the project.

Opponents want the county to build the sailing center on the other side of the harbor. But the east-side location they favor is hampered by prevailing winds that make it unsafe for beginning sailors, experts say.

Critics say they will continue to press an alternative location and challenge the conclusions of experts consulted in the study. They were especially annoyed that the committee allowed a letter from sailing expert Robert Anderson, in which he condemned the east-side location as unworkable, to be included in Monday’s comments.