Growth Continues Despite SOAR Vote

The defeat of Hidden Creek Ranch and adoption of a SOAR growth-control measure led some residents to think residential construction was banned in Moorpark, but that isn’t the case, said Councilman Clint Harper.

“A lot of them feel that growth has been shut down completely in the city, and that’s inaccurate,” Harper said.

Despite stalling what would have been the single largest subdivision in Ventura County history at 3,200 units, Moorpark has an estimated 4,000 units--spread among several projects--that are in various stages of development.

The City Council is considering four developments totaling 1,800 units. Another development, the 500-unit Carlsberg project, was approved by the council in 1995.

Hitch Ranch is the latest proposal before the council. If approved, Hitch Ranch would add 415 to 605 houses in a 285-acre area north of Poindexter Avenue and east of Walnut Canyon Road.

Planning Commissioner Janice Parvin said the number of projects in Moorpark reflects a trend occurring throughout Ventura County.

“I think they’re falling all over each other to develop anywhere, not just Moorpark,” she said. “It’s happening in Thousand Oaks, Ventura, Camarillo. It’s a great place to live. It’s beautiful here, we have no crime, it’s very safe here.”

Harper said developers are attracted to Moorpark because of its location.

“It’s an excellent place to build a bedroom community if you’re a developer.”

Community activist Roseann Mikos, who co-wrote Moorpark’s Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources initiative, said the important thing is to ensure that Moorpark’s outlying boundaries are respected.

“The population is growing and inside the city is the appropriate place,” Mikos said. “The whole SOAR movement wasn’t intended to stop growth, it was to channel the growth where the growth should belong.”