Unlike many large suburban regions, Ventura County enjoys open spaces among its 10 cities, partly because of growth-control laws that keep sprawl in check and agriculture healthy. But the nine Save Open-space and Agricultural Resources laws — covering eight of the cities and unincorporated areas — will expire between 2020 and 2030. If they're not renewed, it's unclear just how Ventura County will grow.

A task force of community members, including environmentalists and business leaders, is taking the first steps to sculpt a vision of that future. Known as the Compact for a Sustainable Ventura County, the group has won a grant to pay for $150,000 of consulting services to start that process. The Southern California Association of Governments awarded the grant last month to the Ventura County Civic Alliance, which sponsors the task force, and the Ventura Council of Governments.

Such grants go to agencies that want to explore a so-called "2 percent" strategy for development, said Ron Bottorff of Newbury Park, task force chairman. "That means you accommodate growth out to 2030 by using 2 percent of the land in the region," Bottorff said. "That's pretty remarkable if you can do that." The idea mirrors so-called smart growth planning that promotes high-density housing near transportation centers where people walk to work or shop. Logical sites for new housing in Ventura County could be along the Metrolink train corridor or along Highway 101, but it's still too early to be specific, Bottorff said.

The grant will pay for Fregonese Calthorpe Associates of Portland, Ore., and the Ventura-based Solimar Research Group to gather data on population projections, housing costs and availability, and transportation, said Solimar President Bill Fulton, a Ventura councilman. "But the guts of it is going to be a workshop where you bring in as many civic leaders from around the county as you can and talk to them about how you want to see the county grow," Fulton said. The results will include different scenarios of how the county should grow, which the public and elected officials can consider later, Fulton said. "The way I see it is, it almost looks beyond SOAR — what long-term growth pattern makes the most sense for this county," Fulton said. "The outcome won't be binding, but it will represent a series of alternative futures."