MOORPARK : Eviction Battle Upsets Tenants

As the city of Moorpark battles in court with the owner of a High Street feed mill the city is trying to evict, a handful of merchants who lease space from the depot owner have found themselves caught in the middle.

“We’re living day to day and it’s a very difficult, unbearable situation,” Leon Paikin, who operates a paint and wallpaper decorating center in the shadow of the mill, told the City Council last week.

Unfortunately for the tenants, they’re not getting any answers from the city or from landlord Foster Enterprises, which owns and operates the mill in conjunction with its two area chicken ranches.

A Ventura County Municipal Court judge ruled last month that the city was within its rights in evicting the egg producer from the feed mill and several other buildings it owns and subleases to other tenants.

Foster failed to pay the monthly rent of $3,200 for about two acres occupied by the mill and adjacent buildings for six months after the city took over management of the property from the Ventura County Transportation Commission, which had bought the land from Southern Pacific railroad, officials said.

Foster eventually paid the rent and began negotiations with the city to extend the lease, but the sides could not agree on how long. City officials, who see the property as crucial to downtown redevelopment, would only offer a two- or three-year agreement. Foster, which said the mill was valued at $1 million, sought at least a 10-year commitment.

A judgment has still not been entered in the case, and Jeff Foster of Foster Enterprises has said he will appeal.

In addition to Paikin, Ventura County Health Care Agency operates a one-day-a-week clinic in one of the buildings, Moorpark Active Seniors Inc. operates a thrift store, and two other individual business tenants operate on the site.

Foster said recently that, because of the court ruling, he has issued eviction notices to all of the company’s tenants and has obtained city permits to demolish the mill and adjacent buildings if necessary. The council last week declined to respond to Paikin’s comments, reminding him the issue involves pending litigation.