Resource Center Planned at Condos

Residents at Conejo Creek condominiums are looking to a permanent neighborhood resource center to keep crime down in the 540-unit complex.

The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to turn over the current resource center, a two-bedroom condo unit that the city purchased last June for $70,000, to use as a temporary facility.

Conejo Creek Homeowners Assn. plans to sell the condo within two months and use the proceeds to build a larger, permanent resource center.

The condo, in the 1600 block of Calle Turquesa, could change hands within two months, city officials said.

A proposed one-story center on nearby Calle Diamonte would include two offices, a multipurpose room and a restroom, said Kevin Vincent, association president. And with 1,500 square feet, it would also be nearly double the size of the 860-foot condo.

The center could cost an estimated $150,000.

Funding would include $75,000 set aside by the association and from profit from selling the condo for as much $100,000, said Vincent, adding that the center got residents involved in numerous activities.

Residents’ concerns about their safety peaked when a man was killed in a drive-by shooting April 28. Last month, the council voted not to replace a deputy who had patrolled the complex through the end of last year.

The transfer of ownership has nothing to do with the shootings, Deputy City Manager Scott Mitnick said. “This would have happened regardless.”

City officials recently voted to study the idea of starting a program where code inspectors would check rented units at Conejo Creek for health and safety violations.