Gary quoted in the Ventura County Star

The Ventura Planning Commission was generally supportive Tuesday of a proposal to build a 165-unit apartment complex in the Montalvo neighborhood, although some commissioners said they’d like to see fewer apartments or more parking spaces.

Tuesday night’s meeting was the Planning Commission’s preliminary review of the Island View Apartments, a development proposed for an empty lot south of the Ralphs grocery store on Victoria Avenue. The commission heard from developer John Ashkar, listened to comments from the public and gave Ashkar feedback.

Most of the 20 or so Montalvo residents at the hearing opposed construction of the apartment building.

Gary Schoeffler, who lives nearby in a development of single-family homes that Ashkar’s company built recently, called the change from condominiums to apartments “a bait and switch.”

“I hope the people who rent these apartments don’t have friends, because it’s going to be impossible for them to park there,” he said.

Brant Gerckens, who owns a home next to the proposed Island View property, said he thinks the complex will “downgrade the neighborhood to have that many units on a property that small.”

“To be a good neighbor you need to have more than the required parking, not less, and it needs to be on-site,” said Planning Commissioner Dan Long.