Over the past two years, City of Ventura staff have engaged with the community to discuss changes to the City’s land use map. The new land use map includes land use designations for every parcel in the City. The land use designations and the land use designation map are critical because they guide the allowed land use, building intensity (e.g., height and density), and general character for every parcel in Ventura. (Download descriptions of the new land use designations).

After an extensive community engagement process, the City Council endorsed a draft land use map in the Fall of 2023. The City Council focused primarily on the non-residential areas of the City, which were organized into 11 “Areas of Discussion.” Other areas of the City – primarily residential neighborhoods – were not discussed since no land use changes were expected from existing designations.

The General Plan team sought feedback from the public on the endorsed land use map. The feedback form is now closed. Staff received several comments regarding sites in the City with proposed land use designations that do not match the current regulations. We are diligently working to identify these sites and determine the appropriate land use designation. Once staff reviews all of the input, we will release an updated map and open a new comment period to the community.

Since 2020, the City heard from thousands of community members in its process of creating a land use map through workshops, online surveys, Community Councils, focus groups, pop-up events, and a General Plan Advisory Committee comprised of a diverse cross section of community members.

The culmination of this process was a series of 10 meetings with the 21-member General Plan Advisory Committee between November 2022 and June 2023 to discuss the vision for the different areas of the city and develop a proposed land use map for review by the community. The city’s land use map defines what every parcel in the city can be used for, and the residential density or commercial intensity that is allowed on those parcels.

The "High Level Land Use Feedback Form" was for residents to provide feedback on the vision for different areas of the city as well as citywide policy direction. We encourage everyone to take this survey. A Spanish version of this survey was also available.

The "Detailed Land Use Feedback Form" was for residents who want to provide detailed input on land uses at the parcel level.

The feedback forms on the proposed land use map are now closed. The results from both Feedback Forms will be presented to the Planning Commission (August 22 and 23, 2023) and City Council (September 11, 2023) as part of their discussions on the proposed land use map.

Watch the recording of the July 19th virtual office hours/open house, available here [Passcode: F8Yb0?44], for more background information on the proposed land use map.

High Level Land Use Feedback Form Results

Detailed Feedback Form Results

Land Use Alternatives Survey Summary

Greenhouse Gas Reduction Survey Summary

General Plan Vision Survey Summary

Active Transportation Survey Summary

Natural Disasters and Climate Change Survey Summary

Visioning Survey Summary

Issues and Opportunities Survey Summary