Solution Found in Dispute Over Gates

After months of wrangling over when to open and close the gates that separate two neighboring communities, members of the Moorpark City Council said they think they have finally come up with an equitable solution.

The council decided Wednesday night to keep the gates open a little later every night to accommodate the schedule of the park employee who will have to lock it every night.

The gates enclose a small park that is meant to be a buffer zone between the two communities--Mountain Meadows and Home Acres. Residents from both sides of the fence have been feuding for nearly a year over whether the gate should be locked at certain times or left open.

The City Council’s decision to keep the gate open later was made mostly for financial reasons.

For the last three months, the council tried locking the gate at 9 p.m. and then reopening it at 6 a.m.

There were few complaints about the hours, but city officials calculated that it would cost about $7,000 a year to pay someone to just lock and unlock the gate.

By pushing the closing time back until 10 p.m., when a park employee regularly gets off work, the city would be able to reduce the annual fee by a few thousand dollars, said Councilwoman Eloise Brown.

The decision did not entirely please either side in the dispute.

Residents on the Mountain Meadows side argued that the little park should be locked from dawn to dusk to keep vandals out and to deter crime. Residents in Home Acres, which is not within the city limits, said that locking the gates essentially made it impossible for them to walk or bike into town.

Although the city has had numerous meetings dealing with the issue, it will likely have to return to the matter in a few months to decide how to pay the extra cost of locking and unlocking the gates, said Councilman Pat Hunter.

Because the extended hours primarily benefit Home Acres residents, residents from Mountain Meadows do not want to pay that cost, Hunter said.