MOORPARK : Dispute Holds Up Settlement of Suit

Although a tentative settlement was announced three months ago, a lawsuit filed by the Ventura County Community College District against the city of Moorpark over the city’s redevelopment agency is still not resolved and the sides may be headed to court.

The lawsuit is one of five filed against the city over division of tax proceeds generated by a redevelopment agency that the city formed in 1989. The agency is expected to generate about $319 million over the next 45 years.

City officials said in late October that they had reached a tentative settlement with the college district, the last party they needed to come to terms with before the agency could begin work on a plan to renovate the downtown area.

That settlement was modeled after an existing redevelopment agreement between the district and the city of Simi Valley, Moorpark Mayor Paul Lawrason said Monday.

However, because there is now a dispute between the district and Simi Valley over terms of the pact, the district has held off on finalizing the Moorpark settlement, Moorpark and college district officials said.

Simi Valley officials could not be reached for comment. Jim Rupp, an attorney for the college district, declined to discuss the nature of the dispute.

“We’re kind of hung out to dry,” Lawrason said. “They suggested that we pattern our agreement after Simi Valley’s and now this happens and we’re kind of caught in the middle.”

Rupp said he was hopeful that a settlement could be reached before a scheduled March 22 court date.

Moorpark officials are ready to settle two redevelopment lawsuits filed against the city by Ventura County and the Moorpark Unified School District.