About the Ventura Port District
The Ventura Port District is an Independent Special District within the City of Ventura. Special Districts are independent, special-purpose governmental units that exist separately from local governments such as a city or county that carry substantial fiscal and administrative independence. Special Districts are formed to perform a single function or set of related functions. In the case of the Ventura Port District, it was organized for the purpose of acquiring, constructing, and operating a commercial and recreational boat harbor within the City of Ventura. Today, the District’s legal boundaries encompass all the City of Ventura as well as some small areas outside City limits.
The original motivation for Ventura to establish the Ventura Port District and construct a functioning harbor in the City of Ventura can be traced back to the immediate post-war period. After the Port of Hueneme, which was opened for shipping operations in 1940, was seized by the U.S. Navy in May 1942 for the war effort, locals were promised a new harbor in the vicinity. While Ventura and Santa Monica were considered, the decision of the Army Corps of Engineers in 1947 to dredge and create Channel Islands Harbor (Oxnard Harbor) spurned residents of Ventura to vote to create their own independent Port District.
The Ventura Port District was established on April 8, 1952 after an election and the majority vote of the citizens of Ventura. Subsequently, on April 15, 1952, the Board of Supervisors of Ventura County ordered the formation of the District pursuant to the Harbors and Navigation Code of the State of California through two separate resolutions. Ventura Harbor is not a natural harbor and at the time of the Ventura Port District’s creation, Ventura Harbor did not yet exist. Funded through a general obligation bond for $4.75 million in February 1962, Ventura Harbor opened and commenced operations in June 1963.
One of the first major tests for Ventura Harbor came in January of 1969 when the Santa Clara River flooded and destroyed large parts of the Harbor. The rebuilding effort took several years and once completed the entrance to Ventura Harbor was now augmented with several groins designed to protect ships coming and going. Further development would be delayed again in 1976 when the State of California passed the California Coastal Act and it wouldn’t be until 1981 the Coastal Commission would certify the Ventura Harbor segment of the City of Ventura’s Local Coastal Program.
After this certification, Ventura Harbor continued its development throughout 1980s. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter signed a law establishing Channel Islands National Park and the Port District would donate 2.74 acres to the National Park Service in 1982 to establish the Channel Islands National Park Visitors Center. Ventura Harbor Village, a commercial restaurant and retail shopping center, would be constructed through the 1980s, and continues to serve as a destination for tourists and locals alike to this day.
Throughout its history Ventura Harbor has continued to serve as a working waterfront as well with various fisheries and vessels operating in and out of Ventura Harbor seasonally. Recently, between 2009 and 2023, Ventura Harbor averaged 23% of the total California Market Squid offloading in the state of California with that number being as high as 41%. Nearly $200 million of market squid was offloaded in Ventura Harbor in that time period. This number is set to significantly increase throughout the 2020s as the Ventura Port District works with the Port of Hueneme to consolidate offloading infrastructure over the next several years in Ventura Harbor.
Today, the Ventura Port District is the owner/operator of Ventura Harbor. The Harbor is a 274-acre multiple use recreational and commercial fishing small craft harbor. The 2.74-acre site owned by the National Park Service under the U.S. Department of the Interior is the only portion of the Harbor not owned by the Ventura Port District. The District’s current property holdings include approximately 152 acres of land and 122 acres of water area.
Ventura Local Agency Formation Commission Municipal Service Review (MSR) Accepted November 21, 2007
Ventura Local Agency Formation Commission Sphere of Influence (SOI) studies dated October 16, 2019
Ventura Port District Map of Service Area
