Vote on Moorpark Development Hits Another Snag

Deliberations on a 489-unit housing development proposed for the grassy hills above Moorpark College have not been easy for the Moorpark City Council.

Last month, the council deadlocked 2 to 2 over whether to approve the project after the fifth council member abstained from voting, citing a conflict of interest because she had served as real estate broker in the sale of the 254-acre project site.

Now, another council member may have to drop out of the voting. Councilman Thomas C. (Bud) Ferguson said Tuesday that he may have to disqualify himself if the council accepts a proposal made Monday night to tie approval of the development to construction of a road near the housing project. The road would cross property owned by a close friend of Ferguson.

The council’s difficulty in approving the project of Calabasas-based developer Griffin Homes marks a departure from its action on other housing proposals.

Mayor James Weak said the council has never failed to approve a housing project since Moorpark became an incorporated city in July, 1983.

The pending vote is on whether to approve an environmental impact report on the Griffin Homes project. Councilwoman Leta Yancy-Sutton, a real estate agent, abstained from the first vote.

On Monday night, Councilman Danny Woolard, who voted against the project in December, won a postponement on a second vote until the city’s traffic engineer reports to the council Feb. 3 on the feasibility of building a four-lane road that would connect the Simi Valley and Moorpark freeways.

Woolard said he favors construction of the road, which would span about 1.7 miles of sagebrush-covered hills and include a bridge over the Arroyo Simi wash, before any of Griffin’s homes are occupied.

The road, however, probably would cross property owned by industrialist Bob Butler. Ferguson, a 67-year-old retiree, said he rents a house from Butler, described by Ferguson as a good friend. If construction of the road is made a requirement of the development, Ferguson said, he will ask city attorneys to determine whether he should disqualify himself from voting.

Ferguson voted against the housing project the first time but said he might support it if the road is built to cope with traffic.

“It wouldn’t seem to me like I’d have to” sit out the vote, he said. “I stand to gain nothing financially any way it goes.”

But Weak predicted Ferguson would have to abstain.

Weak, who supports the Griffin project, said he is frustrated to see the housing plan linked to a previously unrelated road proposal. He said road improvement measures agreed to by Griffin--including widening one road and building another linking the housing and the Simi Valley Freeway--are adequate to accommodate traffic.

Griffin’s donation of land for an elementary school and a park on the tract, Weak said, will help the city’s growth problems rather than contribute to them.

The delays have troubled the developer.

“Griffin doesn’t care about the alternative route,” company President Paul Griffin told the council Monday night. “We don’t understand why you’re laying the alternate route on this subdivision approval.”

Road Financing

City staff was asked to consider several ways to pay for the road. One would have landowners along the route contribute to an assessment fund, another would have them pay for it in exchange for zoning concessions allowing them to use about 300 acres for industrial development.

Consideration of the Griffin project comes as a citizens’ group is conducting a petition drive for a ballot initiative to restrict residential building in Moorpark to 250 homes a year.