EIR for Project Stirs Fear of Valley Fever

After reviewing a portion of the environmental report for the Hidden Creek Ranch housing project, the City Council has requested additional information on the effects of valley fever, a flu-like illness that in rare instances leads to death.

“If I understand what the EIR is saying, it’s saying valley fever will have an impact, but it will be hard to tell the impact,” Moorpark Councilman Chris Evans said Thursday. “I need a better answer than that. It’s too vague.”

During Wednesday night’s environmental study session, Evans and other council members directed the staff to provide them with more specifics on how valley fever would impact residents if nearly 26 million cubic yards of dirt were shifted to create up to 3,200 homes, and shops and offices, north of Moorpark College. “There was a complete inadequacy of addressing valley fever,” Mayor Patrick Hunter said.

Scientists say the fever is caused by the release of airborne fungal spores typically released by a violent shake-up such as the Northridge earthquake.

The council also requested more information on the development’s effects on Moorpark’s Charles Temple Observatory, the only public observatory in Ventura County.

Council members want city staff to figure out exactly what Irvine-based developer Messenger Investment Co. was willing to do: reduce light glare or move the observatory.

The council also said it wanted a better idea of what the Moorpark College president and the Ventura County Astronomical Society wanted to solve the problem of glare.

The council has until Jan. 23 to approve the environmental report.

The next meeting to study the report will be held during a City Council meeting at 7 p.m. Jan. 7.