MOORPARK : Mall Plan Linked to Community Center

The Moorpark Planning Commission has approved a plan to allow the largest developer in the city to enlarge a proposed commercial shopping center in exchange for building a $1-million community center elsewhere.

The commercial shopping center to be built by Urban West Communities, a Santa Monica-based company, was originally approved for 7 1/2 acres, with four acres designated in 1983 for a community building. The developer got approval to scrap the community-use acreage on Monday and build a 12-acre shopping center that will include a Ralphs supermarket, retail stores, medical offices and a restaurant.

Tom Zanic, a representative of Urban West, said his company had agreed in June, 1989, to build the community center at a nearby 69-acre park. It also agreed to donate land for a new fire station in the Mountain Meadows area of the city, which “constitutes community use. We feel it’s a trade-off,” Zanic said.