MOORPARK : Council OKs Plan to Build 552 Homes

Over objections from the state Department of Fish and Game, the Moorpark City Council has unanimously approved a developer’s plan to build 552 homes in southeast Moorpark.

Despite the council’s vote Wednesday, Fish and Game officials continue to argue that the project threatens a rare seasonal wetland found last year at the site that is home to two endangered plants. Mary Meyer, a plant ecologist with Fish and Game, said the agency will decide in the next 30 days whether to sue the city over its approval of the plan.

“We try to avoid going to court as much as possible,” she said. “We could pursue a legal challenge, but we’re looking at our options.”

Despite Fish and Game’s longstanding objections to development near the site, council members said they believed that Carlsberg Financial Corp.’s plan would protect the wetland, called a vernal pool.

Carlsberg President Ron Tankersley said it would be financially prohibitive to set aside the 50 acres that Fish and Game has requested as a buffer zone around the wetland. The City Council agreed.

Instead, the development company has pledged to keep about 15 acres around the pool free of homes. In addition, it plans to create a new water source for the wetland, which is fed from the surrounding hillsides.

“Economic considerations have driven us to this point more than anything else,” Mayor Paul Lawrason said before casting his vote to approve the plan.

City planners said it would be several months before the first building permits could be issued for the 500-acre development. Tankersley said it could be much longer before anything is built.

“After eight years of working on this plan, I’ve learned not to speculate on that sort of thing,” he said. “I can’t say when (building would start). You don’t know what will happen next on this.”