NEW HOUSING PROJECTS don't come along very often in our city and when they do, they need to encompass many of the city's urgent needs and state mandates: housing for families, parks, retail space and low-income projects, too.

The new 35.67-acre Hansen Trust project on the East End of Ventura is the embodiment of an ideal. The project will have 131 market-rate single-family homes and 34 attached units. Included in the mix will be two parks totaling 5 acres and 20-24 attached units for farm worker housing. The state is now mandating that cities include diversified housing and this project will fulfill that requirement.

"It's an agricultural trust," Council member Brian Brennan explained on a recent council visit to the site. "This whole project was a model of how to do it." The property is controlled by the University of California Hansen Trust, which will use the proceeds from the sale of the property for the Hansen Agricultural Learning Center at Faulkner Farm in Santa Paula. The land is not currently under SOAR's purview and can be developed.

"We believe this project sets a new gold standard for development in the City of Ventura," Dawn Dyer of the Dyer Sheehan Group, the project's developer, said.

It is still uncertain how the farm worker units will be financed, said City Council member Ed Summers. He estimated the cost to build the units would be in the neighborhood of $6 million. The City Council has asked the developer to pay $600,000 for initial costs and architectural fees but the rest of the financing will need to be arranged by the city's Housing Authority.

The council put its final stamp of approval on the project last week.

ACROSS THE OTHER SIDE OF THE CITY is another Utopian vision: The $57 million WAV Project. Scheduled for completion in October of 2009, the project will feature affordable housing for artists, assisted housing for homeless families and market-rate ocean-view penthouse condos for upper-income residents. The project has been hailed for its ability to generate economic activity Downtown. It will also include a theater, gallery space and cafes. It is a completely green project featuring recycled building materials, water and energy conservation, and solar power.

Most of the funding came from federal low-income housing tax credits, which require state approval based on low-income housing criteria. A small loan from the city, redevelopment agency monies and the sale of the market-rate units rounded out the financing. The project is now under construction.

Guidelines for the affordable housing have just recently been formulated.

The mix of market-rate and low-income housing in one project has been done in other areas with much success. While a few of the market-rate units are still available for sale in the WAV project, most have sold, said realtor Jerry Breiner.

The lack of available land space, coupled with urgent low-income housing needs has caused us to rethink the way we build our cities and work on ways to creatively finance such projects. The WAV and Hansen projects are leading the way.

I LIVE IN THE UNFASHIONABLE East End of Ventura. It's an area of newer tract houses bordered by older tract houses and dotted by the occasional gas station and mini mart. In short, it's a cultural wasteland. It's a great place to raise a family but if you want a good meal, you have to drive a long way to find it.

In a town being revived by the idea of Smart Growth with walkable neighborhoods meshed with business areas and tree-lined boulevards, we are in the Stone Age. So I was intrigued when I read the report on the city's new Saticoy Wells Community Plan from Economics Research Associates:

Presently, the "Saticoy Village" on the southeast corner of Wells Road and Darling Road, already within the City's jurisdiction, could go forward. It has a letter of interest from TESCO (Fresh and Easy) and further intentions and has been exploring a wide variety of potential tenants. Some 30 possible tenancies are shown on the Concept Plan, dated September 5, 2007. The mix includes TESCO, a drug store, a hardware store, potential restaurant, and a coffee shop. Indeed, the concept demonstrates three restaurants, if the market is there.

I say BRING IT ON!

I believe I can speak for all of us out here in the East End when I say we are starved for attention. TESCO opened its first Ventura County Fresh & Easy store recently in Simi Valley. The stores, about the same size as Trader Joe's, offer prepared foods with a minimum of processing, plus regular grocery items. (I have added a video tour of the Simi Valley store above. Click on the arrow to play it.)

According to Maggie Ide, from the city's planning department, there is a "high probability" that TESCO will open a store in the Saticoy Village location. I am looking forward to this and the three new restaurants, if they are forthcoming.

With Oxnard's RiverPark (a short drive for us East Enders) opening a new retail center and a Whole Foods Market, I hope the City of Ventura can jumpstart this project as well as other retail projects planned for the Saticoy Wells area. We need to keep our tax dollars in Ventura.

The City Council will take up the Saticoy Wells Community Plan tonight in a joint session with the Planning Commission.