Chris Amendt operates a nonprofit dedicated to protecting monarch butterfly habitat and was stunned to see numerous trees in a documented Ventura overwintering site chopped down late last year. She previously urged protection for the grove at the Nov. 4 Ventura City Council meeting, which city officials said were destroyed without the proper permit.
The Native Monarchs founder spoke on an agenda item where Los Angeles-based KB Homes was granted a one-year extension on a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for the 215-unit Vista Del Mar project, planned for a 15.2-acre oceanview property just east of Seaward Avenue.
KB Homes recently built a 72-unit development at a 4.3-acre site along Channel Drive, Seaview at Midtown, where homes are offered for sale between $799,990 and $1,345,000, according to the company website. The nearby project site at 2325 Vista Del Mar is currently owned by Ventura Coastal, a maker of juices, concentrates and fruit pulp, according to the food company website, and includes buildings used for decades by the agricultural industry which would be demolished under the proposal…