MOORPARK : Mahony Dedicates Housing Project

Cardinal-elect Roger M. Mahony of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles helped dedicate a development of 62 affordable homes in Moorpark on Sunday, declaring, “We all benefit when the door of opportunity opens for any members of our community.”

Speaking to an audience of 300, Mahony said, “Villa Campesina is no act of charity. The residents of Villa Campesina are full partners in its development.” Most of the audience live in and helped build the project of modest, single-family homes.

Mahony said that low- and moderate-income families, such as the residents of Villa Campesina, often only need small assistance to share in the American dream of home ownership. He noted that only 18% of Ventura County households can afford a moderate-priced home in the county.

Mahony, who is bilingual, delivered his brief address in English and Spanish. Many of the residents of Villa Campesina are Latino.

Mahony visited several of the homes, including a five-bedroom house on Villa Avenue that is home to Patricio and Maria Mejia and their seven children.

“Congratulations! It’s beautiful!” the archbishop told the Mejias’ eldest son, Simon, who helped build the house.

Sunday marked Mahony’s second visit to Villa Campesina. Two years ago, he spoke at the project’s groundbreaking. The site of the project was formerly owned by the Catholic Church.

The church sold the property to Villa Campesina’s developers at a reduced price, Moorpark officials said. The property is just south of Los Angeles Avenue between Liberty Bell Road and Juarez Avenue.

Instead of making a down payment, each family living in the development worked 40 hours a week for about 10 months as carpenters, roofers and painters, said Jeanette Duncan, executive director of Peoples’ Self-Help Housing, which supervised construction.

Karen Flock of Cabrillo Economic Development Corp., which arranged government-backed financing, said residents’ household annual income ranges from $15,000 to $28,000.

One resident, Martin T. Pereira, said he and his family lived in a crowded apartment in Oxnard before moving to Villa Campesina.

Another, Carlos Guzman, said he, his wife and their three children formerly lived in a motor home on a ranch where Guzman works in Camarillo.

Moorpark Mayor Paul W. Lawrason Jr. said that at least two more affordable housing projects are planned in the city.

“Initial approval has already been given for more than 100 moderately priced units in Westland, which will be near Villa Campesina,” he said. “And I expect another low-priced project to be approved in the near future too.”

Lawrason said a slow-growth ordinance limits market-priced housing in the city to 270 new units a year, but affordable housing is exempted from the limitation.

New house prices in Moorpark now average about $300,000, Lawrason said. In contrast, Flock said, the Villa Campesina homes cost under $70,000.

Now that Villa Campesina’s neatly landscaped homes are completed, Flock said, the families are ready to start developing a 1.8-acre park at the southern end of the project.