Judge May Decide Moorpark SOAR Initiative
The fate of the Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources growth-control initiative for Moorpark could be decided in Ventura County Superior Court today.
Attorneys for the Ventura County Libertarian Party are expected to ask a judge today to throw out the Moorpark SOAR initiative. They argue that the signatures used to place it on the November ballot were collected on petitions that violate state law.
Unlike the county and other local cities, which placed SOAR initiatives on the ballot separately from the petitions to avoid a legal fight, the Moorpark City Council last month placed the measure on the November ballot based on the signatures.
The measure would prevent the city from expanding beyond a set of designated borders without a vote of the people.
But regardless of what happens today, SOAR backers vow to place their initiative before voters. In case the initiative is thrown off the ballot, SOAR organizers are already planning to gather signatures again to force a special election.
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