50 signatures reached
To: The Ventura City Council
Ventura AutoCenter Sign Removal
Dear Esteemed Councilmember(s)-
I would like to ask that the AutoCenter sign be removed. It's been up for four years and has proven to be the blight on the community that we feared it would be when proposed. I am all for wanting to support the AutoCenter and the tax revenue it produces for the city, but this is the gateway to our town, and it looks like you are entering Las Vegas! The AutoCenter made car sales just fine prior to 2020!
60+ miles north and south of Ventura along the 101 and you do not see another like it for a very good reason; it's horrible!! Additionally, the two city employees (Peter Gilli & Alex McIntyre) in 2019; who made the decision to approve a radical deviation from the Public and City Council approved plans from 2017 did so, possibly illegally. Those changes were well over the 10% threshold prescribed by the Director's Permit used, that they believed allowed them to make that call. A call that should have triggered a new CEQA filing as it WOULD & HAS made a direct Environmental impact on the neighborhood(s) directly across the freeway. The design changes made out of public view (post approval process) were deceitful and dishonest. We expect more from our city representatives, and we believe the city has an ethical responsivity to put this wrong, right.
Most everyone in the approval processes has left the city's employ. We have an entirely different City Council and a huge turnover in Planning Staff. Now is a great time to reevaluate the sign and how Venturans feel about it having lived with it going on four years. The statue of Father Serra erected in 1936 in front of City Hall was removed from public land in 2020 due to public outcry. The reasons for the sign removal differ, but the premise is the same. The PUBLIC should be the deciders as to what they want or don't want on their public land. This not a partisan issue.
I would ask that the sign be removed and a new one proposed in a new location. Preferably on land that the sign owner actually owns and the City doesn't need to deed public land to.
Thank you,
_______________________________
(Name and Address)
I would like to ask that the AutoCenter sign be removed. It's been up for four years and has proven to be the blight on the community that we feared it would be when proposed. I am all for wanting to support the AutoCenter and the tax revenue it produces for the city, but this is the gateway to our town, and it looks like you are entering Las Vegas! The AutoCenter made car sales just fine prior to 2020!
60+ miles north and south of Ventura along the 101 and you do not see another like it for a very good reason; it's horrible!! Additionally, the two city employees (Peter Gilli & Alex McIntyre) in 2019; who made the decision to approve a radical deviation from the Public and City Council approved plans from 2017 did so, possibly illegally. Those changes were well over the 10% threshold prescribed by the Director's Permit used, that they believed allowed them to make that call. A call that should have triggered a new CEQA filing as it WOULD & HAS made a direct Environmental impact on the neighborhood(s) directly across the freeway. The design changes made out of public view (post approval process) were deceitful and dishonest. We expect more from our city representatives, and we believe the city has an ethical responsivity to put this wrong, right.
Most everyone in the approval processes has left the city's employ. We have an entirely different City Council and a huge turnover in Planning Staff. Now is a great time to reevaluate the sign and how Venturans feel about it having lived with it going on four years. The statue of Father Serra erected in 1936 in front of City Hall was removed from public land in 2020 due to public outcry. The reasons for the sign removal differ, but the premise is the same. The PUBLIC should be the deciders as to what they want or don't want on their public land. This not a partisan issue.
I would ask that the sign be removed and a new one proposed in a new location. Preferably on land that the sign owner actually owns and the City doesn't need to deed public land to.
Thank you,
_______________________________
(Name and Address)
Why is this important?
This is a David vs. Goliath story with the City acting as a go between. We need YOUR help. Remember, the City works for US as well as the AutoCenter. There is common ground. But we can't get there when the City appears to be covering up its mistakes by sweeping this under the rug.
If inclined, join because you don't like looking at the sign and don't think it "beautifies" the city. It was a bait and switch to the public and city council (at that time). The design changes made out of public view (post approval process) were deceitful and dishonest. We expect more from our city representatives.
I am the one who "discovered" that the land was not owned by the sign owner. It took us a year to get a clear answer from the City as to who actually owned it (the City) and how much they were being paid to transfer public land into private hands (an application fee is all). IF the city signs it over to the sign owner, it lessens their leverage to initiate change. The change we are asking for. We already have plenty of night sky blocking light coming from the AutoCenter. This sign profits a few. I know I'd be fuming if I bought a $1.3 million house up on the hill and had to look at this! Oh wait, that happened to me in my little Craftsman home. I see this thing from my bedroom window!
As for the sign owner, well... they have their own agenda and are probably happy with the current outcome. Might explain why in the four years we've been asking, the owner NEVER agreed to meet with us!
If inclined, join because you don't like looking at the sign and don't think it "beautifies" the city. It was a bait and switch to the public and city council (at that time). The design changes made out of public view (post approval process) were deceitful and dishonest. We expect more from our city representatives.
I am the one who "discovered" that the land was not owned by the sign owner. It took us a year to get a clear answer from the City as to who actually owned it (the City) and how much they were being paid to transfer public land into private hands (an application fee is all). IF the city signs it over to the sign owner, it lessens their leverage to initiate change. The change we are asking for. We already have plenty of night sky blocking light coming from the AutoCenter. This sign profits a few. I know I'd be fuming if I bought a $1.3 million house up on the hill and had to look at this! Oh wait, that happened to me in my little Craftsman home. I see this thing from my bedroom window!
As for the sign owner, well... they have their own agenda and are probably happy with the current outcome. Might explain why in the four years we've been asking, the owner NEVER agreed to meet with us!
How it will be delivered
We plan on sharing the list with the City when we feel that we have amassed enough support to make them listen. There is no set # of signees that we are trying to get. We encourage you sign the petition, but we also need you to support us when there are public meetings and feel free to reach our to your city council yourselves. URL provided below.
Thank you!