City Mulls Options on Maulhardt Property

Oxnard’s City Council tonight is set to discuss what to do about the Maulhardt Industrial Center office park, which officials say owes $1.4 million in special fees and filed for bankruptcy in December.

Gary Gillig, Oxnard’s city attorney, said the city had planned to begin foreclosure sale proceedings on portions of the Rice Avenue property on Dec. 28. But Gillig said the center’s owner, Stephen Maulhardt, halted the proceedings by filing for bankruptcy protection the day before.

Maulhardt is former president of the Oxnard Chamber of Commerce and a cousin of Oxnard City Councilman Dean Maulhardt.

Bankruptcy filings force creditors to stop all proceedings until the bankruptcy court has time to review the case.

Gillig said the center has failed to pay $1.4 million in special assessments owed to the Northeast Industrial Assessment District on 18 undeveloped parcels. Property owners formed the assessment district in 1986, agreeing to pay extra fees for infrastructure and other improvements to the northeast Oxnard area.

Gillig said the city has several options, ranging from negotiating a settlement with Maulhardt to pursuing legal action to remove the hold on the foreclosure proceedings.

“I will give the City Council some options,” he said. “They will have to decide what is best.”

Maulhardt declined to comment Monday.

Gillig said Maulhardt is among about half a dozen property owners in the Northeast Industrial Assessment District who have filed for bankruptcy protection.