Decision Nears on Hidden Creek Environmental Study

After months of listening to the public assail or--rarely--praise the Hidden Creek Ranch project, the City Council is ready to get down to business.

With public hearings now closed, the council for the next six weeks will deliberate on whether to certify an environmental report for the largest proposed housing plan in the city’s history.

It took more than eight years to get to this point, and the council will probably take years more to make a final decision. But it has reached a significant juncture--it is finally able to deliberate on a crucial aspect of the project, planned north of Moorpark College.

“I think it’s time for us now to sit back and negotiate, or talk amongst ourselves about what we think about the EIR,” Councilman John Wozniak said after he and three other council members closed the last of five City Council public hearings Wednesday.

The council must now determine whether the improvement measures in the report adequately address concerns about such matters as air quality, traffic and wildlife.

Also Wednesday, Councilwoman Debbie Teasley announced that she will temporarily refrain from voting on any matter related to the project.

Teasley, district manager for a Moorpark real estate company, is awaiting a response to a letter she sent to the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission several weeks ago, asking if she would have a conflict of interest because she is in real estate.

The city attorney has already advised her that she would not be in conflict.

“I just want to make sure that there’s double protection, that [I’ve] covered all bases,” Teasley said Thursday from her Coldwell Banker Town & Country office in Moorpark.

The commission letter, she said, should arrive well before Jan. 23, the deadline set by the California Environmental Quality Act for approving the environmental report.

The council hearings followed eight years of debates, environmental and financial impact studies, and Planning Commission hearings.

The City Council must make a decision on the environmental study before it can approve any other items, such as the project’s Specific Plan, zoning requirements and development agreement.

Gary Austin, vice president of Irvine-based Messenger Investment Co., urged the City Council to approve the environmental report, saying it has been extensively researched by such experts as biologists, hydrologists, landscaping specialists and architects.

“The city’s EIR is well-documented, thorough, reviewed and re-reviewed,” Austin said.

If approved, Messenger’s project could bring up to 3,220 homes to Moorpark over a 12- to 15-year period and increase the city’s 28,000 population by about one-third.

The developer said the 4,300-acre site would include 365 affordable homes, 5 miles of trails for biking and hiking, two golf courses and an equestrian center. In addition, about half the acreage would be preserved for open space.

Austin has said it would also create sites for two elementary schools and a high school as well as 21 1/2 acres for shops and restaurants.

The project has been blasted during all five meetings by residents who fear that it would create urban sprawl, foster traffic congestion, destroy the night sky and have negative effects on nearby Happy Camp Park. They also worried that it would destroy the city’s small-town feel.

But during the last public hearing, the project received some strong support, mainly from members of Moorpark’s Chamber of Commerce.

“I say you should support the project,” said Harvey Plaks, a Moorpark resident and member of the chamber. “The project will be good for Moorpark.”

Although it is a point that is being debated, Plaks and other members argued that the county will take the project if the city does not, funneling away future fees from the city’s coffers.

Others in favor of the project said it would bring affordable homes to Moorpark.

Paul Kurzeka, an Oxnard real estate lawyer, represents the Vivienne P. Lundquist Trust, which manages 41 acres of agricultural land on Middle Ranch Road, next to the proposed Hidden Creek Ranch project.

“Growth is change, and a lot of people are afraid of change,” he said.

Kurzeka said a project such as Hidden Creek Ranch could benefit the city because a large developer guarantees improvements to the city’s infrastructure, a benefit that small developers with piecemeal projects might not provide.

The council must still schedule sessions to study the environmental report. Members of the public will be able to comment on issues that have not been addressed before if they are of significance to the environmental report, City Atty. Cheryl Kane said.