Oxnard's RiverPark success story comes with some collateral damage

Ventura

The north Oxnard community of RiverPark is entering its tween years.

Like a child on the cusp of adolescence, the neighborhood has seen significant changes but still has more growing to do. It's no longer stealing the show; there are newer homes, newer stores elsewhere. But as the neighborhood approaches build out, it still grabs attention.

On its way to becoming a success story for the city and the region, RiverPark bumped into the Great Recession and hurt some feelings along the way. But the master-planned community just off Highway 101 is a far cry from a decade ago when Oxnard Boulevard first widened, residents started moving in and the city approved a $12 million package for a retail center with plenty of promises.

"What's exciting about RiverPark is the notion of a planned community with housing," said Matthew Fienup, executive director of the Center for Economic Research and Forecasting at California Lutheran University. "We need much more of that."

What's also commendable is its mix of housing, Fienup added.

The 700 acres that comprise RiverPark are bounded by the Santa Clara River, northern city border, Vineyard Avenue and Highway 101. Billed as a self-contained, walkable neighborhood, it features nearly 3,000 units of housing including single-family homes, townhomes, apartments, senior living and affordable housing.

"We're told that millennials, in particular, want walkable communities," Fienup said. "It doesn't mean they get to walk to their jobs. The reality is they're all driving."

More housing in Ventura County like the mix in RiverPark is crucial to luring employers and convincing existing ones to stay and expand, Fienup said.

For RiverPark to be a truly smart growth project, according to Mayor Tim Flynn, it needs a thorough transportation system and local employers.

"If you're going to pack in a lot of people, where is the vision when it comes to transportation?" Flynn asked. "It's a chicken and egg problem. You need people to improve the infrastructure and you need the infrastructure in place to lure the people."

Ideally, the neighborhood should be one-third housing, one-third commercial and one-third job centers, Flynn said. The latter is lacking.

Unintended consequences

By the time Flynn was first elected to the City Council in 2004, RiverPark entitlements were locked in and groundbreaking had taken place.

In 2007, the council made a decision with far-reaching ramifications. It voted to allow a multiplex theater at The Collection at RiverPark, despite an ordinance limiting large theaters in the city once the downtown Plaza Cinemas 14 was built. Flynn, a councilman at the time, was the only one who voted no. He believed at some point in time the city could support multiple theaters but not then and not now.

Many see downtown, located three miles away, as collateral damage to the success of RiverPark. For years, downtown revitalization had been a city goal and the 2005 openings of Plaza Cinemas and adjacent restaurants were seen as the catalyst.

From a sales tax perspective, downtown was on an upward trajectory before the recession, said Abel Magana, executive director of Oxnard Downtown Management District. Revenues improved post-recession but dipped again right when Whole Foods and the movie theater opened at The Collection, the shopping center in RiverPark. In the first several months of the new theater opening in 2012, ticket sales of the downtown theater dropped by 32 percent.

"We got the short end of the stick here," Magana said.

With The Collection just off the freeway, Flynn wondered why anyone would drive to downtown.

"RiverPark is one of the greatest success stories," Flynn said. "It was a shot in the arm for Oxnard and nail in the coffin for downtown."

That downtown could be negatively impacted was obvious when RiverPark developers first put in the application in 1999.

"Here we're told downtown will revitalize and now here we are going forward with RiverPark," said former Planning Commissioner Ed Castillo. "It causes a little friction."

Castillo said as a member of the advisory body, he was tasked to consider whether a project conformed to the city's land use laws. As a longtime resident, he thought downtown would get shortchanged.

Today, Castillo does not go to the RiverPark movie theater without going to the downtown one, too.

"I bounce back and forth," he said.

Approaching buildout

There is still room to build in RiverPark, mostly west of Oxnard Boulevard.

Plans call for two hotels, about 100 rooms each. There is land slated for more office, retail and restaurant space but the city has not yet received any applications. An early plan to build a convention center has been scrapped.

Currently, the streets are maintained by the developer but eventually that will transition to the city, said Clay Downing, who chairs the RiverPark neighborhood council. He said residents are keeping a close eye on the transition.

In addition to neighborhood council meetings, the community is engaged through Facebook, where issues of street parking and minor vandalism are aired. Last year, the community hosted a debate for mayoral and city council candidates.

Downing said the walkable and bike-friendly nature of RiverPark was what attracted him and his wife. He had lived in Ventura and Thousand Oaks before and considers RiverPark a neighborhood "pretty easy to live in."

"If we choose to, over the weekend, we don't drive at all," Downing said.

The couple enjoys biking to Target and Whole Foods. Over the summer months, they biked to the outdoor concert series at The Collection.

With a river and a major highway as borders, Downing said the neighborhood can feel a bit isolated from Ventura and the rest of Oxnard.

"It feels like living on the edge of an urban area," he said.

Downing said public transportation to connect RiverPark to downtown would be great.

"I like not having to get into my car," he said. "A regular bus system back and forth would make RiverPark less adversarial to downtown, and more connected."

When The Collection started opening up, there were talks of a trolley linking RiverPark to downtown. But that idea seemed to have died.

Magana said such a connector would be great for downtown. He sees The Collection as improving the image of Oxnard and catching the attention of those who would normally drive right by on the freeway.

"It's an attractive gateway," Magana said.

But it does negatively impact downtown, especially the larger restaurants and movie theater.

"Not so much the mom and pop taco stands. They probably didn't feel much of a difference," Magana said.

This month, the city is considering candidates for the position of a downtown revitalization manager. The new city position is paid through a deal struck with RiverPark developers.

In 2007, the city approved a $12 million improvements package with The Collection. The bulk of the money would go toward building a parking structure. In exchange, developers would pay $9 million for a downtown program. Of the $9 million, $6 million would be earmarked for the city to spend on revitalization efforts.

That gives hope to Magana, who believes the right candidate with a strong urban planning background could help bring some infill projects to the city's core.

Current construction activity in downtown is on Ninth Street where the former Oxnard Press-Courier site will become senior apartments. Buildings facing Plaza Park, seen as key to downtown revitalization, are out for bids.

In RiverPark, construction continues west of Oxnard Boulevard.

An independent senior living project is under construction and the site of a dependent care senior living project has been graded with construction beginning soon. Once those and about 20 more homes are built, the residential component of RiverPark will be complete.

The units that were the first to be built are a decade old and already undergoing remodeling. One complex upgraded its pool area. Another apartment complex added a two-lane bowling alley to a recreational room.

At The Collection, about 70 percent of tenants have moved in.

"It's a beautiful project," Castillo said of RiverPark. "Is it what I imagined? Absolutely. It supersedes it. I wish we can harness that energy and duplicate it for downtown."