The County of Ventura was selected to receive the 2023 Sustainability Award for Outstanding Achievement in Sustainability from the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG). The award, which is the most prestigious given by SCAG, was given in recognition of the Resource Management Agency’s Agricultural Worker Housing Ordinance. The County was recognized at SCAG’s Regional Conference and General Assembly on May 4 in Palm Desert, California.
“Our Board of Supervisors has long championed the promotion of housing for those working in our agriculture industry,” said Kim Prillhart, Director of the Resource Management Agency. “I couldn’t be more pleased by the innovations in this ordinance that ensures a sustainable path forward to build quality housing for our agriculture workers in Ventura County. It is a testament to the quality of the work that we do at the County of Ventura to have those efforts recognized by SCAG’s most prestigious sustainability award.”
The Agricultural Worker Housing Ordinance was adopted in 2022 by the Board of Supervisors to promote and provide housing for agricultural workers in the region. The regulations include four distinct types of housing for all types of agricultural workers, including full time and seasonal workers as well as for those with families and single individuals. The ordinance expanded potential locations for the development of farmworker housing complexes with close proximity to existing services and infrastructure, and include a new affordable, temporary housing option for seasonal workers in areas which lack infrastructure. New standards for permitting and development were also incorporated for all agricultural worker housing options which minimize impacts to agricultural land and ensure timely development of much-needed quality housing for the County’s agricultural workers.
“Agriculture has always been a defining feature of Ventura County and in order for us as a County to support the industry it is imperative that we also support our farmworkers,” said Chairman of the Board of Supervisors Matt LaVere. “Our farmworkers deserve safe, high-quality and dignified housing, and this ordinance helps expedite the development of such critical housing.”
Information about the Agricultural Worker Housing Ordinance and the permitting process for construction of agricultural worker housing is available on the website for the County of Ventura’s Resource Management Agency at: https://vcrma.org/en/farmworker-housing.
To learn more about the Outstanding Achievement in Sustainability, please visit SCAG’s website at: https://scag.ca.gov/news/scag-honors-seven-innovative-projects-its-2023-sustainability-awards
