Moorpark Issue: Put the Brakes on Growth?

The City Council in Moorpark is considering whether to enlarge the area beyond its boundaries which is destined for annexation. A vote for a larger so-called sphere of influence is a vote for population growth, because Ventura County officially discourages development except in established cities and spheres of influence. Advocates of the expansion want a bigger city tax base and city control of development in the unincorporated area. Opponents point to crowding and the loss of agricultural land.

Margaret Kirnig

An environmental activist who lives just outside Moorpark’s western boundaries in an area called Home Acres.

“Ithink Home Acres is sufficiently bonded together that we speak as a bloc. I doubt very much that people here would want to be part of the city. My impression is that people still rather cherish their animals. They’re a little wary of being in the city. They might lose the animal zoning. And they don’t like street lights, they feel it’s a kind of pollution. We don’t have sidewalks and street lights, and people seem to like that. There’s a lot of people who are do-it-yourselfer types and people who add onto their own homes. Lots of them have horses and other animals, 4-H animals and pigs. We’ve had people live here for quite a long time. You don’t assimilate people if they come in too fast. If you look at the county as a whole, not just Moorpark, the county could stand some spacing between the cities.”

John Lane

Former Moorpark mayor

“Ithink you have to look at the world of reality, and the reality is when you increase the boundaries of your cities, you have to give some consideration to some growth, it’s just inevitable. One must consider expansion of growth. It should be well-planned growth. It should consider the entire infrastructure to accommodate that growth, but it shouldn’t be runaway growth. The key is controlled growth. The city should move forward with some type of ordinance that assures the infrastructure is in place. Cities should have control over their own destiny. You can’t say we’re never going to have more growth. There isn’t that much more land available in the city of Moorpark to allow for much more growth. We’re starting to see revenue coming to the city is quickly dwindling. If builders come into the city and they can provide us with senior housing and affordable housing, then you have to give them some consideration.”

Bob Crockford

Owner of a small avocado farm and president of the citizens committee that helped pass Moorpark’s slow-growth ordinance , known as Measure F on the 1985 ballot.

“Ihave concerns about the county authorizing construction of major developments outside the incorporated area. I don’t want to see that happen. It’s not the way it’s supposed to be done. But it concerns me that expanding the sphere of influence may put extreme pressures to develop on the city. We have Measure F that puts a limit to residential construction, but that’s not going to be around forever. I think it’s worth exploring, but I don’t think a decision should be made very quickly. There is still lots of acreage available within the existing city limits. It’s more important to get greenbelts between the various communities so we don’t end up with the same urban sprawl as the San Fernando Valley and other areas.”

Leta Yancy

Real estate broker and Moorpark’s first mayor when it incorporated in 1983.

“Ipersonally think our population is large enough. The only way I could see where it would need to be changed is if the economics says we couldn’t live within our means. Our sphere of influence lines are still there. When we became a city in 1983, we were able to hold any encroachment coming to our sphere of influence. You still have that control. You have your sphere of interest, and the sphere of interest lines go all the way to the limits of Simi Valley. So you still have that control. I think our sphere of influence lines are big enough. My concern is that are they going to approve things that are outside of our existing city limits, and if so, then it’s definitely going to mean more population. I think it’s important to have so-called greenbelts between the cities.”