Homeowners Are Still Waiting for Park

Four years after the last house in downtown Moorpark’s Villa Campesina neighborhood was completed, the Campesina Park that was proposed nearby remains nothing but a weed-tangled lot along the Arroyo Simi.

The neighborhood’s nonprofit developer has asked the city to help pay for construction of the park, which would include a basketball court and sand lot wedged between Villa Avenue and the stream.

But Moorpark officials contend they still don’t know the cost of constructing the long-sought park. And City Council members worry that even if they provide money for construction, a recent voter initiative may make it difficult to pay for the park’s upkeep.

“How can we build a park if we can’t maintain it?” asked Councilman John Wozniak.

On Wednesday, the council is scheduled to consider hiring a landscape architect to determine how much building the one-acre park would cost.

The small park has long been a part of plans for the neighborhood, a “sweat equity” project in which the residents helped build their own homes. When the Moorpark City Council approved the Villa Campesina neighborhood in 1986, it required the developer, Cabrillo Economic Development Corp., to pay for and build a park along the neighborhood’s southern edge.

But Ventura County’s Flood Control District subsequently needed part of the land for a long-term project that will widen the arroyo. The city’s plans for a footbridge over the stream have further complicated efforts to design the park, said Karen Flock, project manager for Cabrillo.

As a result, neighborhood children usually spend their free time in the streets, said resident Melissa Harris.

“We have tiny, tiny backyards, so basically all the kids play in front,” she said. “Kickball, soccer, street hockey--that’s all played in the streets.”

Although the planned footbridge, near the site where an 11-year-old boy drowned in the arroyo last January, would link the small neighborhood to Arroyo Vista Community Park, Harris said Villa Campesina children need a play area closer to home.

“That park is still too far away for me,” she said. “I can’t keep an eye on my kids from that park.”

Flock estimated that building the park today would cost between $90,000 and $100,000. Cabrillo had only set aside $40,000 for the project, and has asked the city to provide the balance, perhaps through Redevelopment Agency funds. Cabrillo has also suggested that the city take charge of the park’s construction.

City officials contend that they need a more precise cost estimate and have suggested hiring a landscape architect to update the plans as the next logical step.

They also point out that maintenance of the park could be complicated by the recent passage of Proposition 218, a statewide ballot measure that sharply limits the ability of local governments to raise money through assessment districts. Like other cities, Moorpark uses assessment districts to pay for the upkeep of its parks.

Wozniak said that a final decision on the city’s participation in building the park may have to wait until the council has more information on the effects of Prop. 218.

“This [project] may be caught in the middle,” he said.