This morning, amid widespread opposition from Ventura residents and environmental groups, Supervisors Peter Foy and Kelly Long withdrew their proposal to eliminate the public’s right to challenge oil drilling and other development projects that impact the environment and public health.

In the four short days since announcing the proposal, the Supervisors received more than 100 letters and emails from Ventura County residents demanding that the right to appeal certain oil drilling projects throughout the County be preserved.

The proposal – announced last Thursday – sought to revoke a longstanding provision in the County’s Zoning Ordinance that gives the pubic the right to appeal the County Planning Division’s issuance of Zoning Clearances. These clearances are the primary means by which new oil wells are approved and drilled, and they are issued without any public hearing or environmental review. Appeals allow further review and oversight by the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors for certain controversial drilling projects before they can proceed.

Supervisor Foy’s and Long’s proposal was initiated last November, when Foy unilaterally directed County staff to prepare a report summarizing the amount of funds and staff time that the County Planning Division spends processing appeals of oil-related Zoning Clearances. Last week, Supervisor Long joined Supervisor Foy in making a formal proposal to eliminate the public’s right to appeal Zoning Clearances, claiming that the move was justified because of the “astonishing” costs associated with 42 appeals.

However, the figures they cited were grossly inflated; only three appeals of oil-related Zoning Clearances have ever been filed, a small fraction of the 119 oil-related Zoning Clearances issued since 2014, according to data that ForestWatch provided to the Supervisors yesterday in a letter criticizing Supervisor Foy’s and Long’s proposal.

“This deceptive proposal should have never seen the light of day,” said ForestWatch executive director Jeff Kuyper. “Shame on Supervisors Foy and Long for siding with the oil industry at the expense of public participation, good governance, and transparent decision-making.”

“The public has a right to participate in decisions that affect our region’s quality of life, public health and safety, and environment,” said ForestWatch public lands advocate Rebecca August. “This week, Supervisors Foy and Long tried to take away this right, citing misleading statistics and showing disdain for the democratic process. They will continue to face widespread public opposition to any further attempts to shut us out of the process.”

“Most appeals are filed to make projects better, to address concerns about impacts, and to ensure that procedures are followed and legal compliance is achieved,” said Kuyper. “They’re the only oversight the Board and Planning Commission retain of the County’s administration of antiquated oil permits.”

Currently, a Zoning Clearance application for oil and gas activities is $330, which covers a small fraction of the County’s total costs in processing the application, reviewing the underlying permit for consistency, conducting field visits, researching antiquated well records, and ensuring that the applicant has submitted all of the required information.

“The County should evaluate ways to hold the oil industry accountable for costs associated with their development,” said ForestWatch conservation director Bryant Baker. “If cost recovery is truly what concerns Supervisors Foy and Long, then let’s start by ensuring that oil companies at least cover the County’s expense of reviewing and authorizing their for-profit activities.”

ForestWatch has been at the forefront of efforts to bring transparency to the County’s Zoning Clearance approval process. In 2014, ForestWatch successfully encouraged the County to post a weekly listing of approved Zoning Clearances on the County’s website to increase public transparency of the approval process.

For a listing of Zoning Clearance appeals filed by ForestWatch – and the beneficial results those appeals achieved – please visit our website at LPFW.org/zoning-appeals/.