I attended both neighborhood presentations on March 17 by developer Harvey Champlin and builder Ray Mulokis. I was offended by the attitude towards our city, which was depicted as crime-ridden, undesirable and having a trash-filled beach. We were told Port Hueneme needs an update, which they would provide by constructing a 46-story hotel tower of 250 hotel rooms and 200 condos on the city’s Parking Lot E. No recognition has been given by the developer or builder to this being totally out of proportion in our area of two to three-story condos and town homes.

During the question-and-answer period — when residents inquired about serious problems such as traffic congestion, shading created by the proposed structure, possible environmental damage or the lack of a fire department equipped to evacuate from a height of more than 100 feet — the replies usually were that concerns would be mitigated during the process.

My husband and I moved here 13 years ago because we have a charming beach town with lovely trees, parks, the Bubbling Springs corridor and a clean, well-maintained beach with a restaurant, restrooms and shower facilities, lifeguards during the warmer months, a fishing pier, adequate parking and attractive landscaping. This developer talked to us as if we need to “fix” our town by allowing an out-of-character, horrendously oversized tower to be built on this city-owned location.

I can only hope that our City Council will show us they appreciate the ambience of our community and will vote “no” on allowing the filing of project applications for developing a tower on Parking Lot E. Let’s continue to improve Port Hueneme in an appropriate manner.

— Marjorie Cole, Port Hueneme