MOORPARK : Planners Approve Townhouse Project

The Moorpark Planning Commission reversed an earlier position Monday and voted in favor of a proposal to build 196 moderately priced townhouses in the exclusive Mountain Meadows neighborhood.

With the 4-0 vote, commissioners backed down from a stand taken at their Dec. 2 meeting, when they said they would only approve the project if the developer substantially reduced the number of units.

The vote came after Santa Monica-based developer Urban West Communities refused to reduce the number of proposed townhouses to 135.

“It’s well within their legal rights” to build 196 units, commission Chairman Michael Wesner said.

Planning commissioners had said they were concerned that the density of the project at Countryhill Road and Mountain Trail Street would substantially increase traffic in the area.

The Specific Plan for Mountain Meadows allows up to 205 units on the site.

At a Dec. 2 public hearing, about 20 Mountain Meadows residents complained that the proposed townhouses were not the luxury units they had expected to be built in their neighborhood. Residents said the townhouses, which would be expected to sell for $130,000 to $170,000, would lower their property values. Single-family houses in the area sell for $250,000 to $500,000.

Three residents spoke Monday in favor of the development.

“Yes, we are indeed the masters of our homes, but we cannot dictate who our neighbors will be,” resident Gloria Nainoa said.

Residents who opposed the proposal said Monday that they will lobby the City Council, which will vote on the issue in January.