Builder Seeks to Drop Rec Center

A developer’s request to build 552 homes in southeastern Moorpark without including a private recreation center within the development will come before the City Council tonight.

The council is scheduled to review tract maps for Carlsberg Financial Corp.’s proposed housing development, to be built near the intersection of Spring and Tierra Rejada roads. The council approved the project’s amended specific plan in 1994.

In the past, Moorpark has required most developers to include private recreation facilities in their plans. Although Carlsberg would construct a public park--complete with a softball field, basketball court and soccer field--as part of the project, the city’s Planning Commission has recommended that the developer not be required to also build a private recreation center that would house a pool and spa.

Commissioners said the development’s future homeowners should not be forced to pay the costs of maintaining such a facility.

City Council members will also consider Carlsberg’s request to eliminate about 7,850 feet of trails from a trail system that, in the project’s specific plan, was originally designed to stretch for 13,500 feet. Again, the Planning Commission has recommended making the change, arguing that the trail sections to be eliminated would not lead anywhere specific.