County can't seize land for water tank
Alternative location needed
By Sylvie Belmond belmond@theacorn.com

Supervisors Peter Foy and Linda Parks defeated a proposal by the county to use the power of eminent domain to acquire private property west of Moorpark for a new 1.5-million-gallon water tank.

The county has been seeking to buy a 1.5acre hilltop site located in the center of a 218-acre property belonging to the Deukemjian family. At a board meeting last week, agency leaders said it was a site very well suited for the project. Public works officials also wanted to obtain land for a road easement to access the water tank.

The vote to acquire the land in the unincorporated Home Acres neighborhood required a four-fifths majority to pass. Agency leaders must now find an alternate location for the water storage facility.

The tank is needed to ensure adequate water supply to the region, they said.

According to Reddy Pakala, director of Waterworks District No. 1, which provides water to Moorpark and surrounding areas, the proposed location was ideal because it had the elevation needed for adequate pressure as well as proximity to existing water lines, therefore minimizing pumping costs.

The project is long overdue, Steve Williams, manager of the Real Estate Services Division for Ventura County, said at the meeting.

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors initially approved the environmental impact report for the tank in May 2006 and since then county agency leaders have been trying to negotiate with the property owners.

However, the landowners and the county are now at an impasse over the value of the land, Williams said.

While the county assessed the property at $62,000, the attorney for the property owner recently valued the land at more than $1 million.

Even so, the issue is not about price, Williams said during a county board meeting last week. The issue is whether the tanks are a public necessity for reliable water supply to the region.

Supervisors Kathy Long, John Flynn and Steve Bennett all said that the request to use eminent domain was appropriate because the project would benefit the public.

But they encountered strong opposition from East County Supervisors Parks and Foy.

"My concern is eminent domain," said Parks.

"I don't think I'd want that done on my property," said Foy, who owns a ranch in the Tierra Rejada Valley. He expressed concern for the property owner's rights and questioned the methodology of the appraisal.

"The property owner's appraisal considers impacts on property, but the county only goes with value of land taken," he said, suggesting water agency and public works leaders should seek other options for the project.

The land is undeveloped now but could be developed, Foy said, and the proposed project may take away one of the most valuable sites on the property.

"We just have to find other solutions than taking people's property," he said, adding that the Deukemjian family is entitled to value the property as they wish.

"Our goal is to have them go back and seek other options or go back to the landowner and try to work this out with them without leveraging eminent domain," Foy said.