MOORPARK : Council Approves Redesigned Stream

New homeowners in Mountain Meadows won’t have the burbling brook that developers and Moorpark city officials originally envisioned, but they won’t have a replica of the Los Angeles River either.

Owners of the about 1,000 new residences going up in the Mountain Meadows development will instead have something between a concrete drainage ditch and a picturesque stream running through their neighborhood, said Steve Howell of Urban West Communities, the project developer.

The Moorpark City Council on Wednesday night approved a new plan for the Peach Hill waterway that meets flood - control district requirements. The waterway, which will be about four miles long, will be about five feet wide with banks on either side ranging from 46 to 61 feet.

The bottom of the stream will be flat concrete rather than cobblestoned and lined with boulders. Landscaping will also be far less pastoral than originally planned: Trees will have to be at least 25 feet from the center of the channel and 20 feet from each other, instead of being clustered close to the water’s edge; ground cover and bushes will be sparse.

“It’s a far cry from what the residents had come to expect there,” Mayor Paul Lawrason said when Howell presented the new design for the waterway.

“We’re going to end up with the Los Angeles River,” City Manager Steve Kueny said.

The flood - control district required the changes to prevent sediment buildup and allow easy maintenance, Howell said.