Data on Homes Project Studied

Wanting to give themselves and the public more time to review environmental documents, Moorpark planning commissioners have continued a public hearing on the North Park Village project.

The 1,650-home project, which would be constructed around a 52-acre man-made lake, would include a 2,121-acre nature preserve, a 29-acre youth sports park and locations for a public school and fire station. Before it could be built, North Park Village would have to be approved by voters.

Planning Commission Chairman Scott Pozza said commissioners and the public received responses from city staff and consultants late Friday to questions raised during final review of the environmental consequences of developing about 950 acres north of Moorpark College. The proposal has been discussed at nearly every commission meeting since October, he said.

Eight people spoke during the commission’s Tuesday night meeting, and another eight provided written comments on the project. About half favored the proposal. Those who objected cited concerns about traffic, the amount of grading needed and possible pollution from several oil wells on the site.

“It’s a very thorough document,” Kim John Kilkenny, a vice president of Village Development, said after the meeting. “Some tough questions were received, but I think everyone believes the documents address all the issues.”

The commission, which asked staff for more information on traffic flow from the site’s western edge, continued the public hearing to its next meeting April 6 at 7 p.m. at Moorpark City Hall, 799 Moorpark Ave.

“I know the project is moving a lot more slowly than the developer had hoped,” said Councilman Clint Harper, who is a physics and astronomy professor at Moorpark College. “Part of that is due to the complexity of the project and the amount of public interest.”

Harper said the council would face several issues when it formally reviewed the environmental documents, including how a proposed freeway offramp would best connect with Moorpark College; where to place 150 affordable units in the project and whether they should be exclusively for seniors; and whether the proposed school should be allowed on a grade lower than the lake’s surface.