Camarillo City Council
AGENDA REPORT
Date: July 8, 2026
To: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers
From:
Submitted by:
Greg Ramirez, City Manager
Bradley Calvert, Community Development Director
Subject: Award Professional Services Agreement to Dyett & Bhatia Urban and Regional Planners for the Preparation of Camarillo Commons Strategic Plan Update
BACKGROUND
On February 14, 2007, the City Council adopted the Camarillo Commons Strategic Plan (Strategic Plan) to establish a vision and development framework to guide land use activity, development, and reinvestment in the planning area. The Strategic Plan area consists of approximately 55 acres located north of the U.S. 101/Ventura Freeway and Daily Drive, south of Ponderosa Drive, west of Arneill Road, and east of Mobil Avenue.
The area includes two of the City’s oldest shopping centers, a Post Office, Ventura County Fire Station #54, Harley’s Camarillo Bowl, churches, professional office and retail space, and the Raemere Street residential neighborhood.
The Strategic Plan was intended to transform the underutilized, aging commercial area into a pedestrian-oriented destination center with retail shops, restaurants, plazas, entertainment uses, and a greater variety of housing product types and densities.
However, redevelopment of the area has not occurred as envisioned. The loss of the City’s Redevelopment Agency and associated Tax Increment Funds eliminated a key funding source that was originally anticipated to support infrastructure, parking, and other public improvements intended to facilitate redevelopment.
On December 11, 2024, the City Council awarded a Professional Services Agreement to The Natelson Dale Group to prepare an updated market analysis for the Strategic Plan area. The market analysis evaluated current market conditions, redevelopment feasibility, stakeholder input, potential land use adjustments, and implementation strategies. The analysis found that housing at a higher density than currently permitted is the most likely incentive for redevelopment of older commercial sites, that new commercial development is most feasible as part of a mixed-use development, and that additional flexibility in
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density, height, parking, and development standards should be evaluated as part of an update to the Strategic Plan.
The market analysis also identified several strategic recommendations to inform an update of the Strategic Plan, including allowing higher density mixed-use development in appropriate locations, facilitating programs for existing business retention, incentivizing property upgrades, creating public gathering spaces, incorporating walkability and design standards, evaluating parking strategies, and identifying new funding mechanisms for public improvements.
On September 24, 2025, the City Council reviewed the updated market analysis and directed staff to use the findings and strategic recommendations to inform an update to the Strategic Plan. In response to this direction, staff issued a Request for Proposals to retain a qualified consultant team to prepare the Strategic Plan Update.
The City is currently preparing Our Camarillo 2050, a comprehensive update to the General Plan that began in August 2025 and is anticipated to be completed by April 2028.
Camarillo Commons is one of the City’s most significant infill and redevelopment opportunity areas, and the Strategic Plan update will be closely coordinated with the General Plan Update to ensure consistency in land use, housing, circulation, infrastructure, economic development, environmental review, and implementation strategies. Outreach and engagement for the Strategic Plan Update will also be coordinated with the General Plan Update to ensure that messaging is clear, the two planning efforts are not conflated, engagement activities build upon one another, and outreach is strategically timed to avoid public participation fatigue.
DISCUSSION
The purpose of the update is to prepare an implementable redevelopment strategy that reflects current market conditions, addresses challenges of the planning area – including fragmented ownership, long-term lease arrangements, and varying levels of property owner interest in redevelopment – and provides a clear regulatory and implementation framework for redevelopment.
Proposal Evaluation and Consultant Selection
The City received proposals from three consultant firms: Dyett & Bhatia Urban and Regional Planners, JZMK Partners, and Michael Baker International. Staff reviewed the proposals based upon the consultant firm’s qualifications, qualifications of key personnel, related experience, completeness of the response, project understanding, approach to implementation, and proposed cost. The costs for each of the proposals are listed in the following table.
Consultant Firm Cost
Dyett & Bhatia Urban and Regional Planners $759,111.00
JZMK Partners $790,000.00
Michael Baker International $798,857.21
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After reviewing the proposals and conducting interviews with all three consulting firms, staff recommend that the City Council approve a Professional Services Agreement with Dyett & Bhatia Urban and Regional Planners for preparation of the Camarillo Commons Strategic Plan Update.
Dyett & Bhatia submitted the strongest proposal because the consultant firm demonstrated a clear understanding that the project is not just a design exercise, but an implementation and redevelopment strategy. Dyett & Bhatia submitted a comprehensive and implementation-focused proposal that is well aligned with the City’s objectives for the Strategic Plan Update. The proposal focuses on the tools, phasing, incentives, infrastructure analysis, parking strategies, and zoning framework needed to facilitate reinvestment in the planning area. The proposed approach recognizes that the update must address both the long-term vision for Camarillo Commons and the practical steps needed to support reinvestment over time.
The proposal directly addresses the major issues identified in the Request for Proposals and updated market analysis, including fragmented and absentee ownership, incremental redevelopment, tenant retention, parking spillover, infrastructure constraints, funding strategies, CEQA streamlining, and coordination with the General Plan Update. The approach recognizes that redevelopment is likely to occur incrementally and that the updated Strategic Plan must provide both long-term vision and near-term implementation tools for property owners.
Consultant Team and Project Approach
A key strength of the Dyett & Bhatia proposal is the breadth and depth of the consultant team’s experience with complex infill, redevelopment, and implementation planning efforts. The consultant team includes a strong bench of subconsultants with expertise directly related to the most difficult implementation issues in the planning area. The team includes Kosmont Companies for market feasibility, economic development, and funding tools; Fehr & Peers for transportation, circulation, and parking analysis; Water Systems Consulting for infrastructure analysis; KTGY for architectural design; Studio MLA for public realm, open space, and streetscape design; VMA Communications for outreach; and Meridian Consultants for environmental review.
Another strength of the Dyett & Bhatia proposal is its approach to streamlining coordination between the Strategic Plan Update and the City’s ongoing General Plan Update. Dyett & Bhatia is currently leading the General Plan Update, and several members of the proposed Camarillo Commons consultant team are also involved in the General Plan Update effort. Specifically, the teams performing transportation, circulation, and parking analysis, infrastructure analysis, communications for outreach, and environmental review are included in both planning efforts. This creates an opportunity to coordinate land use assumptions, housing capacity, mobility analysis, infrastructure planning, outreach, and environmental review between the two projects. Coordinating the two efforts is expected to improve efficiency by creating consistency, reducing duplication of technical work, and synchronizing public engagement strategies.
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The timelines for the two planning efforts will also be coordinated, with the Strategic Plan Update anticipated to begin in July 2026 and conclude in April 2028, consistent with the General Plan Update schedule.
Dyett & Bhatia also proposed preparing the Strategic Plan Update at a level of detail similar to a Specific Plan. As part of the update, the consultant team will evaluate whether conversion of the Strategic Plan into a Specific Plan would provide the most effective framework for future implementation. This approach will provide more detailed land use direction, development standards, infrastructure priorities, parking strategies, phasing recommendations, funding tools, and implementation actions. Preparing the document at this level of detail will also allow the City to better evaluate opportunities for future entitlement and environmental review streamlining for projects that are consistent with the adopted plan.
Outreach and Engagement
Outreach for the Strategic Plan Update will build upon engagement that has already occurred through the updated market analysis, the early stages of the General Plan Update, and targeted outreach to property owners in the planning area. Staff have already reached out directly by telephone to the majority of the property owners in the planning area to assess their level of interest in redevelopment and reinvestment. This preliminary outreach has provided useful information regarding ownership conditions, redevelopment interest, and issues that should be considered as the Strategic Plan Update moves forward.
The outreach program includes workshops, pop-up events, property owner forums, meetings with stakeholders, General Plan Advisory Committee meetings that will include a focus on the Camarillo Commons area, and study sessions. The outreach program for the Strategic Plan Update will be more focused than the broader General Plan Update outreach effort and will emphasize direct engagement with property owners, business owners, tenants, and other stakeholders within the planning area.
Since the Strategic Plan Update and General Plan Update will occur during overlapping timeframes, the outreach strategy will be coordinated to ensure that the purpose of each planning effort is clearly communicated, engagement activities build upon one another, and public outreach fatigue is minimized.
Contract Scope and Cost
The proposed scope of work includes community and stakeholder engagement, property owner and business outreach, existing conditions analysis, alternatives development, parking and circulation analysis, infrastructure review, economic development and implementation strategies, preparation of the updated Strategic Plan, environmental review, and the public review process.
The original proposed base cost for Dyett & Bhatia was $694,996. Staff requested that Dyett & Bhatia revise the proposal to incorporate expansion of the General Plan Environmental Impact Report to include environmental review of the Camarillo Commons Strategic Plan Update. The cost for the General Plan Environmental Impact Report Camarillo Commons Strategic Plan Update – PSA Award
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expansion task is $64,115, resulting in a revised contract amount of $759,111. Staff are not recommending inclusion of the optional VMT analysis, as this analysis is already being completed for the planning area as part of the General Plan Update.
Staff also recommend authorization of a $100,000 contingency to address additional technical analysis, environmental review, outreach, or implementation work that may be needed during preparation of the Strategic Plan Update, for a total not-to-exceed amount of $859,111. This cost is competitive with the other proposals received and is favorable given the scope of work, the depth of the consultant team, the inclusion of environmental review, and the efficiencies associated with coordinating the Strategic Plan Update with the General Plan Update.
For these reasons, staff recommend approval of a Professional Services Agreement with Dyett & Bhatia Urban and Regional Planners for preparation of the Camarillo Commons Strategic Plan Update.
Conformance with Adopted City Council Policies
Fiscal Year 2025/2026 Strategic Plan Council Goals and Objectives include the following, in relevant part:
LAND USE, TRANSPORTATION, TRANSIT AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: It is the intent of the City Council to…Provide opportunities to redevelop and develop commercial, industrial and residential areas to improve services, businesses and housing, and to deter and alleviate blight.
Objective 4.7: Focus on the potential incremental redevelopment of the Camarillo Commons Specific Plan area by: Affirmatively engaging property owners in the Plan area; and evaluating market-based solutions for facilitating redevelopment of the Plan area.
The proposed Professional Services Agreement is consistent with this goal and with Objective 4.7, which directs staff to focus on the potential incremental redevelopment of the Camarillo Commons Strategic Plan area by affirmatively engaging property owners in the Plan area and evaluating market-based solutions for facilitating redevelopment. The Strategic Plan Update will build upon the updated market analysis, including focused outreach to property owners and business owners, evaluate market-based redevelopment strategies, and prepare an implementation framework to support reinvestment in the Camarillo Commons planning area.
FISCAL IMPACT
Funds for the Professional Services Agreement with Dyett & Bhatia Urban and Regional Planners are included in the General Fund, Community Development Department, Planning Division budget, Account No. 101-1701-417.32-01 in the amount of $100,000.
Additional funds will be budgeted in subsequent Fiscal Years.
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CEQA DETERMINATIONS
City staff have determined, in accordance with Section 15061(b)(3) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines, that the City Council’s review of whether to award a Professional Services Agreement for preparation of the Camarillo Commons Strategic Plan Update is not subject to CEQA review because it can be seen with certainty that the award of the agreement will not have a significant effect on the environment. The agreement authorizes preparation of planning, technical, and environmental analysis only and does not approve any development project, land use change, or physical improvement.
Future adoption of the Camarillo Commons Strategic Plan Update and any associated amendment, development standards, implementation actions, or environmental document will be subject to separate review under CEQA.
RECOMMENDATION
1. Find the award of a Professional Services Agreement to prepare the Camarillo Commons Strategic Plan Update exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guideline 15061(b)(3);
2. Authorize the City Manager to execute CC Agreement No. 2026-58 with Dyett & Bhatia Urban and Regional Planners in the amount of $759,111;
3. Authorize a contingency in the amount of $100,000, for a total not-to-exceed amount of $859,111; and
4. Authorize the City Manager to execute future amendments, documents, and change orders, if required, up to the total not-to-exceed amount.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Agreement 2026-58
2. RFP for the Camarillo Commons Strategic Plan Update
3. Proposal from Dyett & Bhatia Urban and Regional Planners
4. Camarillo Commons Strategic Plan Area Map
REFERENCE MATERIALS – AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW AT CITY HALL
1. Market Analysis for the Camarillo Commons Strategic Plan Area
2. 2007 Camarillo Commons Strategic Plan