Moorpark Housing Plan Rejected : Development: City turns down project calling for 87 houses after neighbors criticize the residences as too small.

A $20-million housing project was rejected by the Moorpark City Council early Thursday after neighboring homeowners complained that the houses planned for development were too small and would hurt their property values.

After a five-hour hearing during which dozens of people spoke, the council voted 3 to 2 to turn down the plan to build 87 single-family houses in the Campus Hills section of Moorpark. Councilmen John Wozniak, Pat Hunter and Scott Montgomery voted to reject the proposal.

The houses were planned for a section of the housing project left unfinished since 1992 when Griffin Homes, the original developer, went bankrupt.

Kaufman and Broad, which submitted the proposal under consideration at the meeting, said its agreement with Griffin Homes’ creditors to take over the project was contingent on getting city approval by midnight Thursday, said Kaufman and Broad President Mark Beisswanger.

“For all intents and purposes, the deal is dead,” Beisswanger said in an interview immediately after the vote.

Beisswanger said homeowners could not be persuaded that building larger houses in the development was economically unfeasible.

“We felt we went as far as we could go,” Beisswanger said. “We talked for what, four or five hours here with people? We wanted to build the project, but they weren’t willing to compromise.”

Beisswanger said the houses, which would range from 1,700 to 2,400 square feet, are on average just 14% smaller than the existing houses in the development. He argued that the residences would not diminish property values, and said the project would allow the development company to complete a long-awaited community recreation center and pool for Campus Hills homeowners.

“By no means are these entry-level homes at $200,000 and up,” he said. “If we could build bigger homes there and sell them we would, but it is not economically possible. I don’t think you could find a builder anywhere that is going to build the size homes that these people want. It’s not feasible.”

In their speeches to the council, homeowners were adamant that the city not allow Kaufman to reduce the size of the houses from what was planned when Griffin was building the project.

“I’m tired of the development being unfinished, but I’d rather it stayed that way than see these homes built,” homeowner Tim Saivar said. “For most people, their home is their most precious possession. We want to protect that. When we bought our homes we trusted that the homes built up there would follow the original plan. Don’t cave in to outsiders interested in short-term profits. Think of the people who live here who will lose if those homes are built.”

Of more than 40 speakers who came before the City Council, only six spoke in favor of the Kaufman proposal.

Several council members, including Scott Montgomery, offered compromises to the proposal. Montgomery suggested changes that would increase the overall size of a few houses but would still keep the limit under 2,400 square feet.

But Montgomery quickly withdrew his motion after audience members shouted their disapproval. “I don’t know what I can do,” Montgomery told the audience. “I was hoping we could work out a compromise, but the people just don’t want it. The chasm is too great.”

The City Council has agreed in the past to allow other builders to reduce the size of housing units in their developments to encourage sales during the economic downturn. On Thursday, Councilmen Paul Lawrason and Bernardo Perez said they would have supported Montgomery’s compromise with Kaufman.

“I don’t have a crystal ball so I couldn’t say if property values would drop,” Perez said in an interview after the vote. “I just know that they haven’t when we’ve done this in the past.”

Most of the council members agreed that the opportunity with Kaufman and Broad to develop the site would not be repeated soon.

“I don’t suspect anyone will want to build there for a number of years,” Perez said. “But even saying that, I’m not shedding any tears for Kaufman and Broad or this deal. I’m proud of the way this worked out. It was a good process. People who were concerned came down and voiced their opinions--strongly--and they won. That’s the way it works.”