College Seeks to Quell Dust Storm of Protest

Moorpark College officials hope a thin chemical coating sprayed on one of the school’s dirt parking lots will seal in dust and cap a growing dispute with neighbors.

Residents of a neighborhood south of the campus have long complained that airborne dust from the lot blasts their homes during windy weather. So on Saturday, college officials coated the lot with a synthetic polymer that bonds with dirt.

College President James Walker said the coating, which cost about $4,000, should last a year and will stand up to the wear and tear of cars parking on the lot, near the intersection of Campus Park Drive and Delfen Street. He hoped the step would satisfy the school’s neighbors.

“We are very sensitive to the fact that we are in a residential area,” he said.

About two weeks ago, Walker and City Councilwoman Eloise Brown met with some of the residents, who showed him a videotape of dust flying across the street and forming small dunes on the sidewalk.

The school hopes to pave and landscape the lot, as well as another lot near the recently built performing arts center, but has so far been unable to scrape up the $750,000 needed to complete both projects, Walker said. At Brown’s urging, the City Council has sent a letter to school officials asking them to move forward with the project.

Residents said Wednesday that winds have been too light since Saturday to determine whether the coating works. They hope it performs better than the water sprayed on the field during last week’s Santa Ana conditions.

“They couldn’t keep up with it, with watering,” said Ellen Estrada, who lives on Kernvale Avenue. “We’ll have to wait for wind. Hopefully, it will do what it’s supposed to do.”