East County Issue / Expanding Moorpark...

Wally Todd, Moorpark businessman and longtime resident

We have a gentlemen’s agreement with the cities of Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks and Camarillo to protect the greenbelt between the cities. If we start infringing on it, what will stop the other cities from doing the same? The question is, are we committed to a certain quality of life, which is one of the reasons we moved here, or are we going to give into the desires of developers? Another issue is air quality and what to do about increasing the size of the population. We could use an analogy that many people say, “Gee, now that you people have moved in, you don’t have a right to keep others from moving in.” We have boundaries in this city and when the city is full, it’s full, not unlike an island. Developers will always find another place to build two- and three-story houses on top of each other. The infrastructure in Moorpark wasn’t well thought out. The solution is not to build 1,000 more homes. Our schools are overcrowded and we don’t have enough parks. Let’s get caught up and then decide if we want to grow more.

Ethel Sulkis, Moorpark resident

Yes. Eventually, the land is going to be built on and used anyway. Rather than see the county take it over, the city should have the say-so. I would definitely like the city to be in charge. I know some areas that could be included in the city, such as around the college area. At the moment, we’re being inundated with cars, but as things straighten out, I believe it can get better. We need to wait and see what works out. I came from New York City, and I’ve seen traffic upon traffic, and they do work it out. With the building of the freeway connector, it will alleviate traffic. I came here in 1961, when there was no road to Thousand Oaks except the back road that went through the farmland. It used to take 30 minutes to go to Thousand Oaks. Now it takes 10 minutes. I don’t think Moorpark has much of a small-town feeling left compared to what I used to know. We try to retain some of it with Moorpark Country Days, and hopefully, we don’t lose out on that. You can keep it a small town if you put yourself out a little bit.

John Wozniak, Moorpark city councilman

Basically, I don’t believe it hurts to do a study of an area right outside your boundaries. However, I do have a problem with our expansion into that area in the near future, because I believe we are suffering from the overdevelopment of the past in this city. We need to correct the problems and try to catch up with that first, before we try to expand anywhere. I think the expansion is going to be based on what the economy dictates rather than what the City Council dictates. I think that’s true of probably anywhere in the country today. If we approve expansion of the sphere-of-influence boundaries, and they don’t have the money to develop, it doesn’t make any difference anyway. I don’t imagine this recession is going to be one that we are going to get out of very quickly. For the long term, it is not bad to look at the area and say we want to be careful with what’s built around the city. If we don’t take the initiative to try to annex that property, or at least have some influence in the area, then we leave that up to the county. We need to have control of that particular area.

Leta Yancy-Sutton, Moorpark’s first mayor and local real estate broker

No. Our city was set up in the beginning to be around 35,000 population, and I think that’s all that we can expand to. If the sphere of influence were enlarged and we had a pro-growth City Council, then development could get out of hand. There are times when decision makers forget that we must supply schools and parks and maintain our infrastructure, even though we would be receiving a larger tax base. I think it is important that we have open space around the city. I don’t believe in, as you leave one city, you immediately enter another one. I don’t think we can afford to expand any more than we are. Although when you expand and development is built, then you get a bigger tax base. However, you’re also going to have to maintain everything you accept into your city. I think our 35,000 to 38,000 population is enough. Maybe I just think we did a good job, since I was there helping put it together. I’m proud of what we did in the beginning, and I don’t think it needs to go any further.

Bernardo Perez, Moorpark city councilman

The proponents for an increased sphere of influence for Moorpark argue for greater local land-use control. They believe that the county, under pressure from major landowners, will ignore its own “Guidelines for Orderly Development.” They say these guidelines, intended to prevent urban sprawl outside of city corporate limits, are not even now sufficient to protect Moorpark’s interest. However, unless I’m mistaken, the county has yet to show an interest in promoting growth within the proposed sphere-of-influence expansion area. Figuring that growth is inevitable though, some say Moorpark should embrace the developers, one in particular, and all of the promised benefits. I believe that growth is certain, that it is necessary, and that it is good. However, I am not yet convinced that Moorpark will be better off by providing for a dramatic increase in growth and all its associated impacts, positive and negative--certainly not to the degree of the current study area.