AFTER A SIX-HOUR MEETING, and many years of revisions, the Ventura City Council finally approved the long-anticipated planning code for Victoria Avenue. It is a document which follows closely the spirit of the city's 2005 General Plan, which was developed after years of citizen input.

The plan spells out the city's desire to avoid "big-box, mega-block, auto-oriented strip development" in the Victoria Corridor, and instead move toward an area with high-wage jobs and walkable blocks. Passing the new code, however, has the adverse effect of rendering some existing buildings non-compliant. In an effort to be fair to property owners while transitioning to the new code, the Council on Monday night passed a few exemptions which would allow modernizing changes for facades, loading docks and energy efficiency without requiring a variance.

All this would be pretty standard planning stuff, if not for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.'s stated intention to occupy the now-vacant K-Mart building. When first heard from, the retail giant presented a plan for an attractive, multi-level mega-store with underground parking. It was not a fit for this particular location with its General Plan mandate against big box development. Recently, Wal-Mart returned with a plan to reoccupy the existing K-mart building and two adjacent stores for a total of 130,955 square feet.

Council member Bill Fulton pointed out the irony of forcing Wal-Mart into a "crappy building with minimal improvements" while requiring good design for other Ventura projects. "This is not raising the bar," he said.

Council member Ed Summers countered that he preferred to see the General Plan's requirements followed for that area. "I'd rather force them to a smaller footprint than let them make a larger, prettier footprint" or mega-store.

THE COUNCIL ALSO APPROVED staff's recommendation to limit retailer size in the area to 100,000 square feet. So Wal-Mart is free to occupy the old K-mart building, but they are unable to substantially add to their space. The passage of the anti-big box initiative on the November ballot would underscore this mandate with a provision to limit retail with non-taxable items such as food to 90,000 square feet citywide.

Mayor Christy Weir pointed out that the initiative would also prevent stores such as Super Targets. "The initiative targets Target and doesn't capture all Wal-Marts," she said.

The Stop Wal-Mart Ventura Coalition, a mix of citizens and others from labor groups and the Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Community (CAUSE), filled council chambers Monday night with those who had undoubtedly received mailers and emails over the last few weeks urging them to attend. And the focus seemed to be on the addition of the loading docks to the revisions.

City Manager Rick Cole assured the group that the revisions were added to ease the burdens on all property owners and retailers in that area. "The recent direction ... is to not create a ghost town of retailers and office buildings as we move toward the transition of the Victoria Corridor Plan."

Updated to include new information:

I'VE BEEN SAYING FOR AWHILE that the anti-big box initiative on the ballot this fall is pretty much moot. The unveiling of the final code for the Victoria Corridor Monday night proved it. The city's own zoning for the former K-mart site will prevent any business over 100,000 square feet from being built. A supercenter is typically almost twice that size.

Councilman Neal Andrews attempted and failed to get council members to agree to drop the 100,000-square-foot moratorium, but did succeed in getting language inserted into the plan which would allow certain modifications to non-conforming buildings such as signage, entrances and loading docks. The council will vote on that language and the plan at an upcoming meeting.

Nevertheless, Wal-Mart is free to occupy the existing 84,000-square-foot K-Mart building and has submitted a plan to occupy that building and adjacent stores, for a total of 130,000 square feet, city officials said today.

Wal-Mart representative Matthew Nelson spoke at Monday night's meeting and was clearly displeased with the emerging city plan. The retail giant's current plans exceed the Victoria Corridor Plan's size limit by 30,000 square feet. Wal-Mart had at one time proposed a very large multi-level store in the same location, which was scaled down.

On Monday night, Ventura Chamber of Commerce past Chair Ted Cook spoke in favor of the Victoria Plan, which encourages more walkable areas and movement to Class A office space to encourage high-wage jobs. "We had some complaints a couple of years ago but those seem to have been mostly been addressed," Cook said, referring to a controversial portion of the original plan to reconfigure the street into three express lanes on each side, plus a right-turn only lane on the edges.

Big-box development is discouraged by our General Plan for that area, but could go elsewhere. Wal-Mart, however, seems intent on the K-Mart spot.

Since groceries are not taxable items, a supercenter with an expanded grocery section is not likely to add much more tax revenue to the city's coffers than would a regular store, Council member Carl Morehouse said.

A study done by professors from the University of Tennessee and University of Las Vegas showed that Wal-Mart would only cannibalize existing businesses in Ventura.

Most speakers at Monday night's meeting spoke in favor of the proposed plan for the area.

"Victoria is very car oriented and we are excited as citizens to see a plan that would change that culture," said Katherine Holland of Ventura.

DO OTHER CITY COUNCILS have 6-hour meetings? Just before midnight, the Ventura City Council put off further discussion on proceeding with a possible sales tax measure until Feb. 17, at a time still to be determined. Those of us who stayed in our seats until the bitter end had long lost feeling in our lower extremities by the time the final decision was ultimately put off.

Because of the worsening revenue situation, department managers were asked to prepare immediate 5 percent reductions. Those cuts will bypass the Budgeting for Outcomes team process, which is now being structured around priority services. The teams will still work on identifying other cuts, which are expected to fall hardest on the Community Services Department.

I decided to make one of my rare attempts at public speaking last night and I shared my thoughts closely along the lines of my preceding blog entry. It is time for all of us to work together and make sacrifices.

Any attempt to pass a sales tax measure will include a town hall meeting first, a suggestion made by Council member Ed Summers which I believe has much merit.

IN LIBRARY NEWS, Council member Bill Fulton reported last night that he is recommending the County Library Commission also put off its decision whether or not to close Wright Library until all input is gathered and alternative options aired. A separate children's library site is also being explored for the Pacific View Mall. The County Library Commission meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Thursday in the Topping Room of the E.P. Foster Library.

I STARTED OFF my day yesterday at 7:30 a.m. at a wonderful presentation put on by the Ventura Social Services Task Force. It was a eye-opening look at our area's homeless issues. I will write more about this in an upcoming entry.

AND FINALLY: City Manager Rick Cole has written in his blog that "Wal-Mart will finally be applying to occupy the vacant K-Mart building they leased on Victoria. Ventura voters will have a chance to vote on banning big box stores that offer groceries in November. But although the initiative would be retroactive, it will be interesting to see how the courts interpret that if Wal-Mart goes ahead and simply occupies the existing empty store."

No word yet on the chain's plans for that site but it would need to comply with the city's codes for that area, which forbid anything over 100,000 square feet from going in there. That would preclude a supercenter, which the ballot initiative slated for the November ballot seeks to prevent. If Wal-Mart simply reoccupies the current 90,000-square-foot space, they would be compliant with the city's codes and the ballot measure would have little impact other than preventing them from adding on.

In a unanimous vote last night, the Ventura City Council failed to adopt Stop Wal-Mart Ventura Coalition's anti-big box initiative and it will instead go on the ballot in the fall of next year. It will join the Ventura Citizens' Organization for Responsible Development (VCORD)'s view initiative for a full vote of the citizenry.

Council members all agreed the measure should be left to the voters to decide. "There are so many implications with land use, our tax base and the future of retail in our city. It's something that we need to let the citizens weigh in on. It could affect retail uses 20 years from now," Council member Ed Summers said.

The City Attorney's analysis of this amendment to the municipal code found it sound for the most part, with the possibilities for legal challenges only coming from its exclusion of wholesale discount stores and its retroactive clause.

It is one of the most tightly written anti-big box measures to go on a ballot. The ordinance would prevent a major retail project that sells goods and merchandise -- primarily for personal or household use -- and whose total sales floor area exceeds 90,000 square feet and which devotes more than three percent of the sales floor area to the sale of non-taxable merchandise such as food.

Wholesale club stores like Costco would be OK. Other stores such as IKEA or an electronics store, both on wishlists for Ventura, would also be allowed. Another Super Target would not and the ordinance could affect the ability of the existing one at the mall to expand.

Das Williams, a legislative analyst for CAUSE, explained that the exclusion for wholesale membership stores was in response to economic development concerns raised by city staff when they were first presented with a draft of the proposed ordinance. Costco is a store Ventura is one day hoping to attract.

Economic analysis from the city on the measure proved inconclusive. While it could discourage one set of investors, it might encourage another. It will serve to limit some consumer choices in the city and could drive shoppers to travel elsewhere.

THE COALITION RECENTLY PAID for its own study by two economists which concluded the city will not gain new sales tax revenue from a Wal-Mart and it will only cannibalize an existing retail market which is already saturated. "A major new retail facility has the potential to negatively impact current business owners since community needs are already being met," the study concludes.

Another anti-big box measure was soundly defeated by nearly 70 percent of Atascadero voters on Nov. 4. However, that city, which is struggling financially and now operating on its reserves, has less local retail available than Ventura within its city boundaries. It is also a staunchly conservative area, Williams said. It is not known yet exactly how much Wal-Mart invested to defeat the Atascadero measure, but "there was a decent amount of money spent," Williams said.

A poll conducted by the Stop Wal-Mart Ventura Coalition found that a majority of Venturans were not in favor of the retailer coming to Ventura. About 8,600 signed the petition to put it on the ballot.

Williams predicts a battle next fall. "It's going to take a lot of organizing for us. But I've operated a lot of signature campaigns in the past and I've never seen volunteers come out like they did in Ventura."