Downtown Moorpark blighted, report says
By Sylvie Belmond belmond@theacorn.com

A newly published blight report says that a third of the properties in the downtown redevelopment need improvement.

The news was not well received by a group representing the interest of residents and business owners in Old Town Moorpark.

According to the report from Urban Futures Inc, about 32 percent of the 1,589 parcels in the project area show signs of structural blight. More than 500 buildings exhibited one or more structural problems, the report said.

Three neighborhoods have a history of blight. They include Walnut Canyon, Charles Street and Avenida Colonia.

The consultants were hired by the city to prepare a plan amendment that will reinstate eminent domain authority for the Moorpark Redevelopment Agency. The agency, formed in 1987, had the legal power to acquire properties from unwilling sellers until it disbanded in 2001. The city is now trying to regain eminent domain authority to continue redevelopment efforts in the project area, which encompasses 1,217 acres of downtown area.

The recent report was required by a new state law passed in Jan. 2007 compelling cities to prove that blight exists before they can be allowed to use eminent domain to redevelop urban areas.

Blight is broken down into several subcategories consisting of deterioration inside and outside of structures, said David Moe, Moorpark redevelopment manager..

Graffiti, inoperable vehicles, fire and electrical hazards, and defects and deterioration all play a role in the blight calculations. Items are tallied by points. While deteriorating paint may score two points, structural damages to the foundation of a building are worth 20 points, the maximum allowed before a property is deemed blighted.

According to the report, at least twice as many downtown households live in poverty compared to the rest of the city.

Consultants said they visited every property in the project area, mostly taking visual assessment from the street while they gathered statistics from local public agencies.

"Our job is to go out and find what facts on the ground fit with blight definitions," said Richard Tilberg, vice president for Urban Futures, during a Project Area Committee meeting Tuesday night.

The committee was formed a year-and-a-half ago to review the eminent domain proposal.

The committee was not impressed with the study, said chairman Dale Whitaker.

"This thing is going to the council, but it has a lot of inaccuracies that are very concerning to me. Downtown property values have been going up. They are not stagnant as stated in the report," Whitaker said.

The committee also had concerns about the field observation method used by the consultants, who reportedly surveyed the area while sitting in a car.

"The report is written to reinforce the city's position and I don't think it's fair to the public," Whitaker said.

While some areas are indeed blighted, the redevelopment agency has done little in its 20 years of existence to improve conditions in downtown Moorpark, said the long time resident and businessman.

"All the improvements that have happened have been done by property owners, not the city," Whitaker said.

But city officials disagree.

The agency has done much to improve the downtown area, said Assistant City Manager Hugh Riley. Work includes the new Magnolia Park, a fire station, road improvements, and affordable housing projects that are currently underway.

While the report indicates there is blight in residential areas, the city has no plans to intervene using powers of eminent domain, Moe said.

The amendment, if it's approved by the city council next month, would not include residential properties.