MOORPARK : Residents Respond to Housing Plan

The Moorpark Planning Commission heard testimony Tuesday from residents about the adequacy of a draft environmental report on a proposed affordable housing project on Los Angeles Avenue, west of downtown.

The Westland Residential Housing Project proposes both detached single-family residences and attached multifamily townhouses, resulting in 285 dwellings, 100 of them classified as affordable.

Tuesday’s hearing was to determine the impact of the project on Moorpark, considered one of the state’s fastest-growing communities.

The project is expected to add more than 1,100 people to the community, affecting traffic on already heavily traveled California 118.

A report from the city’s planning staff said traffic could be mitigated through signals and the reconstruction of intersections.

The report, however, said there would be significant impact at Spring Road and Los Angeles Avenue, the busiest intersection in the community.

Maybel Ortiz lives in the Via Campesina neighborhood, east of the proposed project.

Already, “we cannot send our children to buses because of the extreme traffic on the highway,” she said. “We’re very concerned that the traffic impact is very much downplayed.”

The commissioners are scheduled to hear more comments March 18.