Residents Again Assail Moorpark Housing Plan

Concerned about air quality and traffic nightmares, residents Wednesday night continued to assail Hidden Creek Ranch, a proposed project that could increase the city’s population by one-third.

More than 40 attended the City Council’s second of four public hearings. Council members listened as experts and residents discussed their views on a project proposed by Irvine-based Messenger Investment Co. that could add up to 3,200 homes to the city.

A number of residents began the public hearing with comments on traffic.

Residents living in the Moorpark College area have been especially concerned about traffic impacts. The proposed project would be built on 4,300 acres just north of the college neighborhood.

The plan calls for a road across the southern portion of Happy Camp Regional Park that would intersect with Collins Drive and Campus Canyon Road, already congested in the morning when students arrive for classes at Moorpark College. To the west, the new route would connect with Spring Road, which would be extended.

A plan to build a road that would lead from the southeast end of the project to the Ronald Reagan Freeway has been dropped, developers said.

But some residents have criticized the change and asked the developer to put the route back in the plans.

Some residents wondered what would occur during an evacuation caused by an earthquake or fire.

“If we can’t stop progress, at the very least a separate ramp to the 118 is necessary,’ said Lucy Migliore, a 10-year Moorpark resident.

Other residents worried about traffic that would flow through their college-area neighborhood.

“We chose to live there for the solitude and quietness,” said Maurice Lacour, who lives in a cul-de-sac adjacent to Campus Park Drive. “If you do use that area, it will make that area not a destination, but an avenue to a destination.”

But one supporter, resident Henry Plack, urged the city to approve the plan in order to increase tax revenues.

“Now what are we saying? We don’t want anyone to build homes?” Plack asked. “We’re having problems with schools, parks and libraries. That’s because we’re stagnating . . . if we don’t keep enticing business and development from coming into the community, it will die.”

The city has retained consultants Austin-Foust Associates Inc. of Tustin to determine whether anything can be done to improve both the existing and future traffic flow at that intersection.

While residents are concerned over the amount of open space that would be built upon if the project is approved, the developer has recently submitted a revised land-use plan.

In a 22-acre parcel in the northern section of the property, those revisions replace homes with open space or limited development. That could add more acres of open space to a project that now has about 50% open space.

Newport-based BonTerra Consulting, which drafted the project’s environmental impact report, has determined a portion of the area is dominated by coastal sage scrub and chaparral. The consultants recommended limited residential development for the area.

The environmental consultant also said the study concluded portions of the site are contaminated by residue from oil wells.

If approved, the project is expected to be completed within 15 years, beginning in the east and spreading toward the west end of the land.

In addition to the homes, developers plan on creating two golf courses, an equestrian center and a 21.5-acre commercial center with shops and restaurants.

The plan also calls for building one school, providing land for another elementary school and a high school, and parks and trails.

Prior to approving the final environmental report in January, the City Council must determine whether it’s necessary to recirculate the report for public review.

City officials expect it will take at least another year before any permits are handed to developers. Two more public hearings are scheduled: Oct. 22 and Nov. 12. Both will be held at 7 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, 799 Moorpark Ave.