Oxnard Acts to Seize 2 Large Properties Fit for Development

Moving ahead with plans to recover millions of dollars in overdue taxes and assessments, Oxnard’s City Council decided Tuesday to take new steps to seize two large properties ripe for development.

City leaders voted to increase the amount they are seeking in foreclosure on a 181-acre field north of the Ventura Freeway where a Solvang-based developer once planned to build office buildings and a mall.

Jim Fabian, a city financial analyst, said Oxnard began trying to take control of the land--which is across the highway from the Wagon Wheel complex--in 1992. The Oxnard Town Center partnership now owes about $12 million in overdue taxes, assessments and other fees, Fabian said.

The City Council also agreed Tuesday to step up efforts to seize about 30 acres in the Maulhardt Industrial Center off of Rice Avenue in northeast Oxnard. Fabian said the center’s owner, Stephen Maulhardt, has failed to pay about $1.46 million in overdue assessments and other fees on 18 undeveloped parcels.

Fabian said both property owners began falling behind on payments in 1991.

“I think it is an indication of the bad turn the real estate market took at the time,” Fabian said before the meeting. “But we are not alone in dealing with the problem.”

Fabian noted that other cities face similar problems with property owners who fail to make payments to special tax districts set up to provide water, sewer and road improvements.

If both the properties are sold at auctions later this year, Fabian said, the city will not gain anything from the sale. The money is owed to bond holders who provided the cash to set up the special tax districts.

City Atty. Gary Gillig said Maulhardt, a former president of the Oxnard Chamber of Commerce and a cousin of Oxnard City Councilman Dean Maulhardt, could still appeal a judge’s ruling on Monday allowing the city to proceed with the foreclosure.

“But assuming the judgment becomes final, if we started foreclosing tomorrow, it would probably be around 130 to 150 days before the sale would take place,” Gillig said before the meeting.

Maulhardt essentially halted foreclosure proceedings on the Maulhardt Industrial Center, which owes money to Northeast Industrial Assessment District, by filing for bankruptcy protection in December.

But U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robin Riblet ruled Monday that Oxnard could resume its efforts to take over the property for an eventual sale.

Fabian said the city would set the price of the property--zoned for industrial development--at an amount slightly higher than the $1.46 million owed, to account for attorney’s fees and other costs.

Maulhardt did not return phone calls made to his Oxnard office Tuesday.

Oxnard hopes to put the site near the Wagon Wheel complex up for auction at a minimum bid of $12 million in about four months, Fabian said. City officials said three parties have been eyeing the parcel for future development.

“I think right now what we are seeing is a general increase in interest on the site,” Fabian said. “People recognize that it is a regional site.”

But Oxnard could not approve a large-scale development in the area without major road improvements, city officials said.

Gillig said a settlement reached in 1986 with the city of Ventura prevents Oxnard from allowing large-scale development before the bridge over the Santa Clara River is widened. Fabian said Caltrans is expected to begin the work by the year 2000.