Council to Discuss Managing Growth

The Moorpark City Council is scheduled to discuss new standards for managing the city’s growth at a meeting tonight.

The proposed standards--requiring developers to pay for police protection, schools, parks and other city services new homes will need--are meant to replace the city growth-control ordinance, Measure F, which expired at the end of the year.

The Moorpark City Council decided against renewing the 8-year-old ordinance because they were concerned that it would open the city up to litigation by developers. A similar ordinance in Oceanside was struck down in a state Supreme Court decision handed down last spring.

Like the Oceanside ordinance, Moorpark’s law relied on numerical caps on the number of building permits issued each year to regulate growth in the city. The measure was passed in a citywide vote in the mid-1980s when Moorpark was one of the fastest-growing cities in California. With county planners predicting that Moorpark will again see a growing spurt, the City Council has said they want something in place to ensure managed and orderly development.

The alternative standards set to be discussed are modeled after those used by Chula Vista, a city that requires developers to meet community needs for such things as air quality, police and fire services, emergency medical services, schools, libraries, parks, recreation, water supplies and roads.

The Moorpark City Council meeting begins at 7 p.m. at 799 Moorpark Ave.