MOORPARK : Schools, City Close to Deal on Property

Moorpark school officials and the City Council are close to ending a 5 1/2-year battle over the use of the former site of Moorpark High School, officials said.

At a joint meeting Wednesday, council members agreed to two out of three terms of a deal proposed by the Moorpark Unified School District for the property at 280 Casey Road.

Under the proposal, the district would sell or lease about 12 acres of the property to the nonprofit Cabrillo Economic Development Corp., which has proposed to build 119 low-priced and moderately priced apartments and townhouses.

In return for the council’s approval of the development, the district would sell the city the lower athletic fields, which cover nearly 12 acres, for a downtown park.

Council members agreed to the proposed purchase price of $1.2 million.

“It really sounds like we’re very, very close if you can close the deal with Cabrillo,” Councilman Scott Montgomery said.

Although school and city officials agreed on the purchase price and the density of the development, council members balked on a school board request that the city find a way to increase local developers’ contributions to the school district.

State law requires developers to pay school districts a minimum of $1.63 for every square foot of new construction, Supt. Thomas Duffy said.

Districts generally use the funds to build schools or hire teachers to accommodate the children moving into the new development.

School officials said they believe that there is legal precedent in the state for Moorpark to require developers to either pay more money or donate land for new schools if the minimum state fees are not enough to accommodate the additional children.

Council members agreed to look into the issue.