Court Rejects Annexation by Moorpark

In a decision hailed by slow-growth activists, a panel of judges has invalidated Moorpark’s annexation of a large swath of land that was to house the 3,221-home Hidden Creek Ranch development.

The state 2nd District Court of Appeal’s unanimous ruling could send Messenger Investment Corp. back to square one in what has become a more than decadelong effort to build upscale homes on 4,322 acres adjacent to the city.

Judges agreed with a lower court’s conclusion that the agency that approved the annexation didn’t have sufficient evidence that the project would meet environmental standards or provide adequate city services.

Critics of the project said the ruling will give residents a chance to carefully consider any new development proposal. Under a tough growth-control law passed after the annexation, any construction on farmland and open space must first be approved by city voters.

“It’s the ultimate vindication for SOAR and the people of Moorpark who put SOAR in place,” said lawyer Richard Francis, who was instrumental in the passage of Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources measures now in place in Moorpark and most of Ventura County.

Messenger attorney Bruce Peotter declined last week to comment in detail on the April 26 ruling or the developer’s next move, saying only that plans are “far from dead.”

When the Local Agency Formation Commission signed off on the annexation in 1998, slow-growth activists were pushing to enact the city’s SOAR policy. LAFCO agreed to the annexation after SOAR secured a spot on the ballot, and only months before voters approved the slow-growth measure. Also, in agreeing to the annexation, LAFCO had relied in part on a tentative development agreement that voters later rejected.

“What was really going on here was a race,” Francis said. “The developer and the city wanted to get the development approved before SOAR was in place. When we realized we had to stop the annexation, the other side pushed harder and faster and in fact pushed so hard and so fast, they made a number of errors, which made the litigation work.”

The developer still has several options, including appealing the decision to the California Supreme Court. Messenger also could work with the city to submit a new annexation request to LAFCO and then put development plans before voters for approval.

However, the compositions of the City Council and LAFCO have changed since 1998. LAFCO has a stronger slow-growth contingent on its board and a new director who has been more cautious than his predecessor about annexations.

Meanwhile, only one of the original supporters of the development remains on Moorpark’s five-member City Council and a majority now supports slow-growth measures.

Two current council members, Roseann Mikos and Clint Harper, were leaders in the effort to block the Hidden Creek Ranch project three years ago. And Mayor Pat Hunter cast the sole council vote against the development in 1998.

Under a third scenario, the developer could abandon annexation plans and attempt to gain approval for a significantly scaled-back version of the project through Ventura County officials.

Harper said the most likely scenario is that Messenger will take another crack at annexation but will put forward a far smaller project, perhaps 500 to 1,500 homes. Talks seeking a similar compromise were underway earlier this year but fell apart shortly before the ruling.

Harper said he would support an annexation bid for a scaled-back project rather than encourage the developer to work outside city limits. After all, he said, even if the land isn’t in Moorpark, its traffic would still affect the city.

The county Board of Supervisors has approved some projects near the city that have drawn residents’ complaints, including a driving range that is illuminated with flood lights at night.

“At the driving range in the Tierra Rejada Valley, the lights are so bright it looks like the aliens have landed,” Harper said. “And the rock quarry north of the city--they’re allowed to have thousands of trucks drive through the city.

“If it’s going to be done, it’s got to be done right.”