MOORPARK : Longer Street Name Gets Council’s OK

The Moorpark City Council has approved changing the name of Villa Avenue to Villa Campesina Avenue, which officials initially said was too long for a street name.

The council voted last week in favor of changing the name of the block-long avenue in the 62-home Villa Campesina housing tract, which was planned and built by its residents.

The street name will not be changed until the council holds a public hearing on the proposal.

The council also considered changing the name of Tierra Rejada Road, a main thoroughfare, to Gabbert Road, but decided first to confer with homeowners’ associations on the street.

Villa Campesina resident Teresa Cortes said Saturday that the proposed name change for Villa Avenue would satisfy a long-held wish of the neighborhood’s residents.

Residents of the affordable housing tract chose the street names when the neighborhood was being planned in the mid-1980s, Cortes said.

When residents requested that one street bear the name of the neighborhood, officials responded that the name Villa Campesina Ave., as it would appear on the street sign, was too long. The residents settled for Villa Ave.

Since that time, however, Cortes has done some sleuthing and has found other streets in Moorpark whose names are as long or longer than Villa Campesina Ave., which has 17 letters.

“I was checking some streets in Mountain Meadows and Peach Hill,” Cortes said, referring to two of Moorpark’s most exclusive areas. She said she noticed street signs bearing names such as the 18-letter Christian Barrett Dr. and the 17-letter Mountain Meadows Dr.

Cortes mentioned her discovery to council members, who took up the issue.

The council considered changing the name of Tierra Rejada Road to Gabbert Road to reduce confusion for motorists. As it is, Tierra Rejada turns into Gabbert after it crosses Los Angeles Avenue.

But Mayor Paul W. Lawrason Jr., who lives in one of the neighborhoods located off Tierra Rejada, reportedly warned his fellow council members that residents would oppose the change. The council decided to seek residents’ input before acting on the proposal.