Hidden Creek Ranch Developer Files Lawsuit Against Moorpark

Reacting to growth-control advocates aiming to kill the Hidden Creek Ranch development in Moorpark, the project developer struck back Tuesday with a lawsuit that asks a Ventura County judge to invalidate a referendum on the question because it allegedly violates state law.

The lawsuit names the city of Moorpark as a defendant, and City Council candidates Roseann Mikos and Clint Harper, leaders of the referendum drive, as interested parties.

Filed by attorney Glen Reiser on behalf of Messenger Investment Co., the suit said the referendum violates state law because it would change the property’s zoning and put it in conflict with the city’s General Plan.

The lawsuit also alleges that the referendum is flawed because it would not inform voters that, by eliminating the Hidden Creek Ranch development, amendments to the General Plan made by the City Council also would be eliminated.

Reiser said he expects a ruling by November so the referendum can be invalidated before it reaches voters Jan. 12. An election on the referendum and the growth-control Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources initiative was approved by the council last week.

Richard Francis, a proponent of a countywide SOAR initiative and a Ventura attorney who will represent Mikos and Harper, said that Reiser gave them the opportunity to defend the referendum. The city, given its position in favor of the development, is not likely to do so.

But Mikos and Harper said the suit is a form of intimidation.

“This is not going to stop us from opposing the project,” Mikos said. “This is a real David and Goliath story.”

The 3,221-unit Hidden Creek Ranch development, which would add more than 4,300 acres to the city’s boundaries, was approved by the City Council in August after more than eight years of negotiations with the Orange County-based Messenger Investment Co.

However, after county election officials validated 2,078 signatures to qualify the referendum against the development, the City Council voted last week to place it on the special ballot.

If the referendum passes, it would repeal the council’s approval of the development and would not allow the council to take action again on Hidden Creek Ranch until a year after the date it was repealed.

Francis said Reiser’s arguments are invalid because the General Plan does not legally have to comply with the zoning ordinance.