United Against Sprawl

Welcome to the future, Moorpark.

In passing its own growth-control measure and rejecting the 3,221-home Hidden Creek Ranch development, Moorpark aligned its future with the rest of Ventura County’s resolve to build a sprawl-free future.

About two-thirds of Moorpark voters last week said no to Hidden Creek Ranch and yes to a Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources (SOAR) measure similar to those passed by Camarillo, Oxnard, Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks in November and by Ventura in 1995. A related countywide measure passed in November by a similarly lopsided margin.

Nowhere will SOAR be tested as hotly or as quickly as in Moorpark. Unlike in some other cities where only modest developments are in the works, here the measure may--or may not--have arrived just in time to stop the largest Ventura County residential project in recent memory.

A brochure passed out by developer Messenger Investment Co. at a preelection forum referred to the people of Moorpark as “the ultimate decision makers” on the project, yet few expect the company to accept their vote as the ultimate decision. The long history of legal battles over Hidden Creek Ranch could well rage on for years.

The majority of the Moorpark City Council did everything it could to delay, if not prevent, the vote on SOAR and Hidden Creek Ranch. Now residents must keep the pressure on local politicians to make sure the city does all it can to heed the will expressed at the ballot box.

Regardless of the ultimate fate of Hidden Creek Ranch, Moorpark now joins the rest of Ventura County in the challenge of finding new ways to grow.

Here are some steps Moorpark could take to begin improving life within its new boundaries:

* Take a closer look at the old downtown area, along High Street. One underused asset here is the Metrolink station, visited twice each workday by hundreds of commuters. The city should encourage commuter-oriented businesses such as dry cleaners, flower shops, coffee kiosks, newsstands and perhaps a specialty market such as Trader Joe’s to locate near the station to capitalize on that traffic and make the most of Moorpark’s bedroom-community status.

* Seek innovative ways to partner with neighboring cities. With the mega-malls of Thousand Oaks and the growing commercial offerings of Simi Valley so convenient via freeway, big-box retailers haven’t shown much interest in adding Moorpark locations. But if the city of Moorpark offered to promote a “Shop Simi” campaign in return for a cut of the collected sales tax, or worked with one or both of its neighbor cities in other ways, the riddle of how to lure big stores to a city of 29,000 could be redefined.

* Step up efforts to reduce truck traffic on New Los Angeles Avenue, the commercial heart of the city. Major help with funding and building a bypass road to reroute those 4,000 trucks a day was part of the $100-million enticement package Messenger Co. offered in return for permission to build. With that offer rejected, the city can work on its own to seek other ways to pay for a bypass or it can try harder to get increased manpower and hours for the truck inspection station on California 118. This would discourage some truckers, mainly those who choose the Moorpark detour in order to dodge the inspection station on the Ventura Freeway. Both of those strategies have been tried for years but, with future growth now confined to within city limits, getting all those trucks out of the middle of town takes on even greater importance.

Voters have told Moorpark leaders they want a future without sprawl. To deliver, everyone’s ideas and cooperation will be needed.