Buying Land to Preserve It

Re “Growth From 3 Cities Squeezes Tierra Rejada Greenbelt,” July 16.

The article on the Tierra Rejada greenbelt defines the problem we face here in Ventura County. We can either become “Orange County North” with houses cheek to jowl all the way from the valleys and mountains to the sea, or we can keep our county’s agricultural character through what I call capitalistic environmentalism. Rather than zone the area greenbelts, we should buy them now and preserve them forever.

Three years ago, I wrote an op-ed piece for The Times that argued against zoning and for the outright purchase of the open space we have left (“How to Save Ventura? Buy It,” Sept. 14, 1997). I argued then, as I argue now, that zoning restrictions and SOAR-type [Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources] ordinances are nothing but good intentions that will ultimately fail.

Over time, developers will trump these intentions by buying politicians and elections to get what they want. Consider Newhall Ranch on the county’s east border--does anyone seriously believe that a project backed by a giant developer and the entire Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will not eventually be built? The numbers are just too huge.

If we as a county wish to preserve areas like the Tierra Rejada greenbelt, we had better stop debating and start buying the land we love to keep it that way in perpetuity.

WILLIAM P. McGOWAN

Ventura