MOORPARK : Plaza Tenants Seek Improved Security
Business owners at Moorpark’s largest shopping center have banded together to press their landlord’s managers to improve security in the parking lot and make other changes to attract shoppers.
Most of the 30 businesses in the Towne Center shopping plaza have united as the Moorpark Tenants Assn. out of concerns over security, vacant stores and a recent doubling of charges for maintaining common areas.
The tenants said they plan to present their concerns to the center’s management company, Encino-based La Cagnina Associates.
The businesses are particularly concerned about security because of the recent abduction from the parking lot of a Moorpark woman, who was later raped, said Elaine Bernie, owner of Plaza Video.
“That was bad publicity obviously,” Bernie said, adding that tenants view the abduction as an isolated incident.
Business owners had asked La Cagnina to improve lighting in the parking lot a year ago but to no avail, said Betty Herrala, who owns It’s Your Affair party store.
A La Cagnina spokeswoman declined to comment.
The tenants said they also want La Cagnina to help reduce the number of vacant stores in the center, currently 13, said Dave Rusnak, owner of Country Sun Florist.
In addition, the business owners said their annual maintenance bills for the parking lot, landscaping and other common areas were recently doubled with no explanation.
“There’s been a real lack of communication between the management company and the tenants here for a long time,” Herrala said, adding that her portion of maintenance costs rose from $300 to $600 a month.
“There is no communication,” said Gary Hoyotatubbi, owner of Flamingo’s Frozen Yogurt. Hoyotatubbi said he received a letter last week from La Cagnina telling him that his store’s two outdoor tables violate the center’s original development permit and must be removed immediately.
The yogurt store could keep the outdoor tables if Hoyotatubbi and the management company file a joint application to the city, said Patrick Richards, the city’s director of community development.
But the company has not contacted city officials concerning alternatives to removing the tables, Richards said.
In addition, the store owner said he and management company representatives have not spoken to each other since the violation was discovered.
