Driving Range Plan Faces Opposition

A Moorpark developer who abandoned plans last month to build two 18-hole public golf courses in Happy Camp Canyon Regional Park now faces opposition to his plans to build a golf driving range in the buffer zone between Moorpark and Simi Valley.

The Moorpark City Council voted 3 to 1 last week to send a letter opposing Ralph Mahon’s plans to build a 25-acre driving range in the Tierra Rejada Valley next to California 23.

City officials are worried that a golf range would be an unsightly addition to the greenbelt between Moorpark, Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks. The land is zoned for farming, ranching and open space.

The three cities and the county signed an agreement that pledged to preserve the area as a buffer free of commercial development and high-density housing. The idea was to prevent urban sprawl and maintain a semblance of rural terrain in the eastern end of the county, city officials said.

The proposed driving range would have a 47-space parking lot, a clubhouse and would be surrounded by 30-foot high barrier nets to keep balls from flying onto Tierra Rejada Road or off the range. And the range would also have floodlights to operate at night.

Mayor Paul Lawrason voted against sending the letter to county officials, saying that he felt making some changes to the development plan--for instance, forbidding nighttime play--would make the range acceptable.

Mahon did not attend the City Council meeting and could not be reached for comment Thursday.