Voters to Decide on Church Project

A 1995 slow-growth ordinance that gives voters the power to rezone agricultural land for development will get its first test in the Nov. 2 election.

Ventura voters will decide whether to approve a proposal by the First Assembly of God Church to build a 2,000-seat sanctuary, professional sports fields and a running track on 26 acres at the northwest corner of Montgomery Avenue and North Bank Drive.

The land is zoned for agriculture and protected by SOAR, an open-space protection ordinance approved by city voters in 1995.

“We’ve owned that property since 1986, and we intended to build a sanctuary and fields,” the Rev. Jim Deck said. “We wanted to extend ourselves to the city and say, ‘This is for you.’ Then this thing called SOAR came along.”

The church began collecting signatures. Officials in the city clerk’s office say the church collected 7,697 names, delivering them to City Hall June 2. Of that number, 6,477 signatures were declared eligible, giving the item a place on the ballot.

Deck said the sanctuary would also be open for concerts, graduations and other public events.

“Too many times churches are exclusive of things,” Deck said. “As Christians, we need to reach out to other people.”