City May Rezone Site, Block Development

Abandoned by a potential financial backer, a plan to build 216 luxury homes and two golf courses in northern Moorpark may die at the hands of the City Council.

Council members Wednesday will discuss changing the zoning on 655 acres of property that developer Paul Bollinger hopes to turn into Moorpark Country Club Estates. The move would drastically reduce the number of homes Bollinger could build and could kill the project.

For months, the council has threatened to change the zoning, alarmed that Bollinger had not been able to line up funding for the project. A divided council approved Bollinger’s plans more than a year ago, but by late 1996, he still had not secured financing.

When it approved the project, the council changed the land’s zoning from its former rural designation to allow Bollinger to build. Now, council members worry that someone else might eventually be able to build on the land without agreeing to the conditions the city hammered out with Bollinger.

In February, the council introduced an ordinance changing the land back to its original rural zoning--a move designed to protect the city. But it held off on the ordinance’s second and final reading to give Bollinger time to work out an agreement with Centex Homes, a national home-building company that had expressed interest in the project.

Centex pulled out of the project last month.

Now Mayor Pat Hunter says the council should read the rezoning ordinance for a second time and put the matter to rest rather than giving Bollinger another chance to find financing.

“Second chances were given a long time ago,” he said.

But Councilman Chris Evans favors giving Bollinger more time. “I don’t see the downside to leaving the land zoned the way it is now,” he said.