Moorpark Postpones Vote on 216-Home Project

With last-minute changes and questions on a development agreement, the Moorpark City Council on Wednesday night decided to postpone a vote on a 216-luxury-home development for another week.

City Council members said they did not want to vote on the project because the developer does not yet own the land.

City Manager Steve Kueny warned the council that if the developer is not able to purchase the property, another developer could come in and build on the land and not be subject to the negotiated agreement.

Westlake developer Paul Bollinger and the city have been bogged down in the details of the agreement that would obligate Bollinger to pay the city more than $5 million over 15 years in exchange for such things as an exemption from any future growth-control rules or the city’s existing rules regulating construction on steep slopes.

As part of the agreement, Bollinger would pay the city $200,000 a year for the next 15 years and make two large lump-sum payments during that time. That money would go into an endowment which, at the end of the 15 years, could be worth about $5 million and yield about $200,000 a year for city coffers.

Bill La Perch, who lives near the proposed development and has opposed the plan since it was introduced, questioned before the meeting whether Bollinger can complete the project and said the city needs a guarantee that the project is built under the guidelines that have been worked out.

The agreement by Bollinger and city officials does include a clause that deeds a portion of the property to the city if Bollinger does not develop the property or make the agreed-upon payments.

Mayor Paul Lawrason earlier said the agreement provides the best guarantees for the city.

But after the issue of ownership arose at the meeting, Lawrason said he was questioning the whole deal.

Although Bollinger holds an option to purchase the property, he does not yet own the 655 acres of land between Walnut Canyon and Grimes Canyon on which his project is planned.

Bollinger has said he wants to use the agreement to attract investors.

“I already have a number of banks interested in the deal and all I’ve been waiting for is the city to move,” Bollinger said before the meeting.

City officials said after the meeting that they want assurances that Bollinger has the necessary financing before they approve the deal.

Bollinger posted an advertisement on the Internet nearly six months ago detailing the project in a five-page prospectus. In the outline, he says the project “will be approved in March 1996. Grading is anticipated to start in the summer of 1996 with lots available for sale in the fall. The two Bob Cupp-designed golf courses will be ready for play in the summer of 1997.”

But before anything goes forward, Bollinger still will have to buy the property. About half the land is owned by West Oaks 27 partnership, which is controlled by federal bankruptcy court.

That portion of the property was formerly owned by Olen Phillips, the former director of a now defunct Thousand Oaks bank who was indicted for fraud in 1989 and two years ago pleaded guilty to filing false financial statements to obtain a personal loan.

Bollinger said he negotiated an option to purchase the property before the indictment and that legal wrangling over the case was one of the reasons it has taken him so long to get city approval for the project.

The rest of the property is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“Everything is agreed upon. I just need the entitlements,” Bollinger said before the meeting.

According to the prospectus, Bollinger is looking for about $26 million in short-term investments for construction of the homes and about $25 million in long-term investments for the two golf courses. He believes the homes can be sold within about four years and the golf course investment will pay off over 15 to 30 years.

Along with the golf courses, the project is supposed to include a clubhouse, several hiking trails and an equestrian center.

The homes, planned for 655 acres between Walnut Canyon and Grimes Canyon, are expected to cost $500,000 to $1 million each.