Council Delays Vote on Housing Project

Moorpark City Council members postponed action Wednesday on a 216-unit luxury housing development planned for the north side of town, saying they wanted to give the public more time to review an agreement between the city and the project’s developer.

Before Wednesday night’s meeting, the city and Westlake-based developer Paul Bollinger finalized an agreement that would exempt the proposed Moorpark Country Club Estates from future city growth-control ordinances and the city’s Hillside Protection Ordinance.

In exchange for those exemptions, Bollinger promised to provide the city with a $5-million endowment. The project also includes a pair of public golf courses and other public amenities.

Bollinger has agreed to pay the city $200,000 a year for the next 15 years as well as make two large lump-sum payments during that time. That money will go into an endowment fund that in 15 years could be worth about $5 million and yield about $200,000 a year in dividends for city coffers, Bollinger said.

Frustrated by local residents who fought his project, Bollinger said before the meeting that the project deserves approval after all he has gone through.

“Look, I’m trying to make Moorpark a better place,” he said. “This project is a big benefit to everybody. There are a lot of great features that I’ve stated so many times. I mean even if you just look at the golf courses . . . they will help give Moorpark a national identity.”

In early December, the City Council approved an environmental review of the project despite objections from several residents. Along with the endowment, Bollinger will pay for two new public golf courses, an equestrian center, hiking trails, a connector road and pipelines for a city water-reclamation plant.

The housing is planned for 655 acres between Walnut Canyon and Grimes Canyon are expected to cost between $500,000 and $1 million. The City Council is scheduled to vote on the issue at a meeting Wednesday.