Council OKs Plan for Urgent Care Center

A local dentist’s plan to build an urgent care center in Moorpark can move forward now that the City Council has given preliminary approval to a zoning change needed for the project.

The council voted late Wednesday to change the zoning--from residential to commercial--on four acres of land on which DeeWayne Jones hopes to build Westgate Plaza, a combination of shops, offices, restaurants and a medical facility. Since the zoning change takes the form of an ordinance, the ordinance must be read a second time before it takes effect.

The vote was part of a complex, multi-step process designed to give Jones the approvals he needs while protecting the city’s interests.

Council members had worried that if they granted the zoning change, and Jones’ project for some reason fell through, future developers would be free to put businesses on the site that the city did not want.

To ease their fears, the property owners and the city will draft an agreement that will effectively prevent any future developer from bringing onto the property businesses the city considers inappropriate for the area, such as auto repair shops or feed stores.

The agreement will be presented to the council possibly in two weeks, when the zoning change ordinance comes up for its second reading. The delay will also give Jones more time to sign up potential tenants with whom he has been negotiating.

Even if the zoning change goes as planned, Jones will still need to bring specific designs for the plaza back to the City Council for approval.