MOORPARK : Council to Consider Other Sites for Park

Unable to strike a deal to buy the site of an old school and turn it into a downtown park, the Moorpark City Council has decided it is time to look elsewhere.

The council late Wednesday instructed two of its members--Mayor Paul Lawrason and Councilman Bernardo Perez--to compile a list of five other sites and obtain prices from property owners for council consideration.

“I think it’s time we expanded our alternatives,” said Councilman John Wozniak. “It’s time to focus on a different piece of property.”

The city and the Moorpark Unified School District have been wrangling over the sale of the 10-acre Casey Road site for years, first in a series of court battles and more recently across a negotiating table.

The city and school district appeared to be closer than ever to a deal in early June, when council members approved conditions for a purchase of the land but the school board deadlocked on sale terms.

Since then, the sides have exchanged several revised offers but have moved no closer to a deal. In late July, school board members Tom Baldwin and Clint Harper--who negotiated and voted for the June settlement--acknowledged that the deal was falling apart.

“That’s the No. 1 priority, it has been from the start,” Lawrason said of the former high school site. “But we need to start looking at alternatives, because we’ve been at this a long time.”