Across Ventura County, as residents and planners recognize the need to create more sustainable communities, a deep and profound change is occurring in land-use planning. In the old “separation of uses” approach that gained popularity along with the automobile, housing was segregated in one area, stores and restaurants in another, and industry/offices in yet another—too far away for easy walking. The need for automobile travel—and acres of parking lots—was built into the design.

The new approach, mixed-use planning, envisions neighborhoods with a variety of compatible uses, where people can walk to jobs, shopping, and entertainment. Mixed uses may even be found in a single building, with offices or shops on the ground floor and apartments on the second and third floors.

Unfortunately, many local zoning codes and general plans were written when the “separation of uses” philosophy was in vogue, and strictly prohibit mixed uses. While most city councils and land-use planners are trying to revive mixed-use planning, few local governments have the staff or funding to comprehensively rewrite their general plans and zoning ordinances.

In Ventura County, the City of Fillmore is a noteworthy exception. In the early 1990s, Fillmore was preparing a general plan update, including a Specific Plan for its downtown area. Recognizing the need to move away from automobile-dependent land-use patterns, and wanting to capitalize on Fillmore’s historic character as a friendly, walkable small town, the city drafted a carefully-thought-out plan to revitalize its downtown area, focusing on mixed uses and pedestrian-friendly development.

Its timing could not have been better. In January 1994, just two days before the city was scheduled to adopt the new plan, the Northridge earthquake hit the city hard—damaging 400 residences and many businesses, including the loss of several key buildings in the downtown area. In the short term, this was a tragedy, but the city was able to turn this loss into an opportunity to reshape the city over the long term.

“The whole downtown area was cordoned off and quarantined,” says Community Development Director Kevin McSweeney. “There was lots of emergency money available for redevelopment but to get it you had to have a plan. Some other cities, like Watsonville, had damage but no plan. But our plan was quickly approved, so the funding came quickly.”

The ’94 earthquake may have helped clear the way for Fillmore’s downtown renaissance but city officials had long dreamed that the area would once again blossom. In 1988, McSweeney says, City Councilwoman Dolores Day invited architecture students from Cal Poly to come look around and begin creating a redevelopment plan. “It all flowed from that.”

The opening paragraphs of Fillmore’s Downtown Specific Plan declare that it is “designed to retain and strengthen the Downtown’s existing desirable qualities. Fillmore has an intimate, small town character that is clearly distinct from other Southern California cities. Fillmore’s railroad and citrus industry heritage, the traditional Central Park, its pedestrian-oriented shopping area and historic buildings provide a strong and positive character that is to be protected and enhanced.”

Mainstreet Architects and Planners of Ventura worked with Fillmore planners, community members, and a team of specialists for over a year to create the plan. The Specific Plan addresses allowable land uses, and includes a set of detailed building design criteria intended to meld new development seamlessly into Fillmore’s historic downtown.

The plan starts with goals, objectives, and land-use regulations, and also covers parking, circulation, infrastructure, and conservation. Particularly important are the building design criteria that guide both new construction and remodeling of existing buildings. These criteria emphasize building facades with large window areas and varied but harmonious exterior finishes, to create an inviting appearance for a stroll down Central Avenue, Fillmore’s town center.

The result is a delightful combination of old and new—old concepts like mixed-use buildings, balconies just right for leisurely sitting, and shops, post office, and theater close enough to walk to, together with new buildings that blend in and make savvy use of limited space.

“The city demands the highest quality of architecture downtown,” McSweeney says, and it shows. Developers still approach the city with plans for new neighborhoods in outlying areas, but they find many good reasons to consider building downtown instead. “We did a master Environmental Impact Report for the whole downtown, so developers don’t have to do one if they build here,” McSweeney says. A three-story mixed-use building with storefronts on the ground level and apartments upstairs took just one month to win city approval.

Apartment building

Left: Ballard Furniture occupies the ground floor, with six apartments upstairs, garages behind.

Right: Parkview Court includes 50 apartments for seniors, with interior courtyard and balconies.

More housing opportunities and choices.

The increased number of apartments and condominiums in downtown mixed-use developments can result in more affordably priced units available for working-class families, more opportunities for seniors to “downsize” from their single-family homes into apartments and condominiums in town centers without having to leave their hometown, and more housing opportunities for young professionals and their families.

Fillmore’s new three-story Parkview Court building includes 50 one- and two-bedroom apartments for low-income seniors. It is designed around an interior courtyard that offers quiet, privacy, a cooling fountain, and shade. Each of the apartments has a balcony. “The residents do use them, and not just to store bikes and hang laundry,” McSweeney says. “The police love that people actually sit on their balconies and watch the streets.” Parkview Court also features a computer room with Internet access, and extra-wide hallways to accommodate residents’ scooters.

The developer of that project, JRW Group Inc. of Paso Robles, chose the location for its proximity to the senior center, bus stop, shopping, and police station, McSweeney says. “It was fully rented even before construction was completed.”

The Ballard Furniture store, designed by Mainstreet Architects, is located in the heart of downtown and has six apartments upstairs, with garages out back adjacent to another municipal parking lot. The municipal lot will become increasingly shaded as its carrotwood trees mature.

A village-style mix of retail, restaurants, offices, civic uses, & multi-family housing

Mixed-use downtown areas work well when they include a balanced and vibrant mix of compatible uses, with first floor street-front uses generally reserved for retail, restaurant, and in some cases office uses.

What has emerged in Fillmore’s downtown is a charming balance of urban density and small-town convenience. For the residents of the new apartment building for low-income seniors downtown, banking, the post office, City Hall, Central Park, a senior center, a bus shelter, and shops are all within a few steps—or a short scooter ride. Older buildings, such as the bank (a town historic landmark), the post office (a major magnet drawing people downtown), and the venerable Estrella Market grocery story have been retrofitted against future earthquakes.

Balancing urban density & small-town convenience

Above, Left to Right:
The post office, conveniently located downtown, is within easy walking distance for the residents of the new Parkview apartments.

Wide sidewalks lined with shops and cafes make Downtown Fillmore a pleasant place to linger, or walk from errand to errand.

After the earthquake the city helped support this corner market, which lost customers when a nearby apartment building was destroyed.

A sense of community

By getting people out of their cars, mixed-use developments foster human interaction and help create the sense of belonging to a community. It is easy to walk from one use to another and plazas, parks, benches, and other social gathering places offer many opportunities to socialize in a relaxed setting, contributing to a sense of “community.”

Fillmore’s new City Hall, echoing the neighborhood’s vintage style, overlooks the broad green Central Park and is within walking distance of downtown. Besides offering a pleasant place for residents to gather anytime, the park is also used for special events. More than 50,000 people packed the park for the Fourth of July fiesta and car show in 2006.

By getting people out of their cars, mixed-use developments foster human interaction.

Above, Left and Center: The promenade, which follows the historic railroad tracks through town, is well used for biking, strolling, relaxing and gathering with friends.

Above Right: Downtown Fillmore opens its streets to host community events.

Good bicycle and pedestrian access

One of the key benefits of mixed use is its emphasis on walking and bicycling to reduce auto dependence.

With most of the stores and services necessary to daily life within walking distance, residents near town can go for days at a time without using their cars—and less money spent on gasoline means more money for other things. Slightly elevated crosswalks downtown double as speed bumps to “calm” the traffic and add safety for pedestrians. A pleasant promenade and bike path follow the railroad tracks that run through town. (These days, the tracks carry only a tourist train that runs from Santa Paula to Piru. But in an example of the forward thinking that guides the entire project, McSweeney notes that the tracks are in good shape all the way to Ventura and the city has chosen the location for its future Metrolink station—perhaps 30 years from now.)

Reduced parking

With less dependence on cars, mixed-use developments generally have less need for parking. Parking can also be shared, such as by businesses during the day and residents in the evening when the businesses are closed.

In Fillmore’s downtown area, the parking requirements for residential uses are much lower—just a one-car garage is required. The city has already built two public lots with free parking, and plans to build a third. In five years or so, as growth and demand continue, the city plans to build its first parking garage. All of these factors combine to eliminate the need for vast acres of parking lots—which has the dual benefit of leaving more land for other uses, and reducing the distance between them.

Parking can be shared: Businesses use spaces during the day and residents use the spaces in the evening when businesses are closed.