MOORPARK : Grain Mill Eviction Effort to Continue

The city of Moorpark is trying to evict the owner of a downtown feed mill from property that the city is in the process of buying, despite the owner’s claims that the move will force the mill to shut down all of its operations in the area and eliminate 70 jobs.

Jeff Foster of Foster Enterprises, which owns about 600,000 chickens on two Moorpark-area egg ranches, said the mill that his company bought with the ranches in 1985 is critical to his entire business.

The mill is located along the railroad tracks on the south side of High Street on land formerly owned by the Southern Pacific Transportation Co.

The property, where a feed mill has operated since the 1950s, is now owned by the Ventura County Transportation Commission. The city of Moorpark acts as property manager for the commission and is now in the process of buying the land.

After Foster Enterprises failed to pay rent for the first six months under Moorpark management, the city initiated eviction proceedings against the company. Foster said the non-payment was an oversight because the city didn’t send a monthly bill as the former owner had.

During negotiations on a new lease, the city refused to lease the property for more than two years, despite the fact that the company-owned mill is worth about $1 million and cannot be moved, Foster said. Foster said he needs at least a 10-year lease to continue his operations.

The eviction proceeding is scheduled for March 1.

“You don’t steal a guy’s property and tell him to go on down the track and build another $1-million mill,” said John Newton, a development consultant hired by Foster.

But Councilman John Wozniak said that the company got itself into trouble by missing six months of rent--which Foster said has now been paid--and expecting the city to commit to a long-term lease in an area slated for redevelopment.