MOORPARK : Resident Protests Plan for Outlet Mall

A Moorpark resident fired the first salvo last week in what promises to be a battle over a clothing manufacturer’s proposal to establish a factory outlet mall and distribution center in the city.

Bugle Boy Industries Inc., the Simi Valley-based manufacturer of casual apparel, has proposed building a distribution center and factory outlet mall on a 33-acre site at the west end of Moorpark.

Local officials have said they are excited by the proposed project, which could bring up to 700 jobs and about $150,000 in annual sales tax revenues to the city.

But at last week’s council meeting, a resident of the Old Buttercreek housing tract, located directly across Los Angeles Avenue from the Bugle Boy property, told city officials that she and her neighbors are organizing a protest against the proposed development.

Brooke Luke told the council that traffic from the outlet mall and distribution center would cause problems with noise and air pollution in her neighborhood.

In addition, the proposed development would lower residents’ property values, she said. The more than 260 single-family houses in Old Buttercreek sell for about $225,000 to $335,000, according to a local real estate broker.

She told the council she has contacted one of the Camarillo residents who organized a successful protest last year against a proposed factory outlet mall in that city. The Camarillo resident has promised to help Old Buttercreek residents in their fight against the Bugle Boy project, Luke said.

Council members did not respond publicly to Luke’s comments. But Mayor Paul W. Lawrason Jr. had said earlier that he anticipated such a protest.