Panel to Seek Ways to Revive Downtown

The challenge facing a handful of Moorpark business owners and residents Wednesday has stymied local politicians for years: How can the city revive its ailing downtown?

During the next two months, the 12 men and women who make up the Downtown Specific Plan Advisory Committee will brainstorm on ways to bring new merchants and customers to the area around High Street, once Moorpark’s main boulevard.

They will hold their first meeting Wednesday evening at City Hall.

City Council members formed the committee as part of the latest revitalization effort, which may culminate later this year in a series of zoning changes designed to spur downtown business development.

Mayor Patrick Hunter will introduce Wednesday’s meeting by briefly describing the group’s mission.

Then he plans to get out of the committee’s way, letting members discuss whatever ideas come to mind. “I’m going to let them go at it unrestricted, because I don’t want to stifle their creativity,” he said.

Committee members will probably break into two groups, one handling such land-use issues as zoning while the other discusses architectural guidelines for the area. After three meetings, the committee will forward its recommendations to the city’s Planning Commission.

For committee members, several of whom have businesses on High Street, the effort represents another hope for breathing new life into the old downtown, which has lost most of its customers to the shopping plazas lining Los Angeles Avenue.