Growth-Lid Initiative Is Readied in Moorpark

A Moorpark councilman has begun work on an initiative that would permanently limit the city’s population.

City Councilman Clint Harper said he hopes to have a ballot measure prepared by November asking voters to approve a population ceiling and other growth measures. Moorpark already limits growth to just 250 homes a year.

Harper said he is now considering a population limit of 33,000, a figure that reflects the maximum population recommended in the city’s general plan. The limit could be higher or lower, depending upon community response before the initiative is drafted, he said.

The population of Moorpark has doubled in 10 years, to more than 22,000, city officials said. Construction projects now being sought by developers would eventually add another 19,000 residents, most of them after the existing housing limit expires, Harper said.

The purpose of the proposed initiative is to slow development of the eastern Ventura County municipality and “save the city from being San Fernando Valley-ized,” Harper said.

Expires in 1995

In 1986, Moorpark voters overwhelmingly approved a measure that limits new building to 250 homes a year. But Harper said the existing growth ordinance, which expires in 1995, does not go far enough to prevent traffic and other urban problems caused by rapid development.

Harper said he hopes at least two more members of Moorpark’s five-member City Council will join him in voting to put the measure before voters.

If the council declines, Harper said, he will seek community support to force the council to put the measure on the ballot. The city would have to put the measure on the ballot if 10% of the registered voters signed petitions calling for a vote, Harper said.

Harper’s proposal, which has yet to be submitted to the City Council, also would require:

Voter approval, in referendums paid for by developers, of all new developments that would increase the city’s population beyond whatever limit is established.

A moratorium on hillside development until the city drafts an ordinance to limit such construction.

City adoption of design standards regulating the color, landscaping and architecture of construction projects.

Creation of a citywide traffic-management plan.

Negotiations with the county and neighboring cities to create greenbelt areas east and west of Moorpark.

The proposed traffic management plan, hillside and population-limit ordinances would be drafted by a committee composed of members of the City Council, Planning Commission, city planning staff and residents, Harper said.

The proposal has been scheduled for discussion by the City Council at its April 6 meeting, Harper said.