Moorpark Council Approves Bonds for Low-Cost Housing

The Moorpark City Council has backed construction of nearly 200 apartments and homes for low-income senior citizens and other residents with limited earnings.

Without discussion, council members Wednesday night unanimously approved the sale of $16 million worth of tax-exempt bonds to aid financing of Vintage Crest Senior Apartments, a 190-unit, $22.5-million complex that will offer below-market rents to the elderly.

Council members also rezoned a city-owned parcel at Millard Street and Los Angeles Avenue to allow construction of a trio of three-bedroom houses that the city would buy from the developer to resell to low- and very-low income buyers.

“I think we are doing a reasonably good job of providing affordable housing for all segments of the population, from first-time home buyers up to seniors,” Mayor Patrick Hunter said.

Vintage Crest will substantially increase the number of affordable dwellings for seniors in Moorpark, said Nancy Burns, a city redevelopment analyst.

“This project represents a very important ingredient in the formula we’ve set out to provide affordable housing in the community,” Assistant City Manager Hugh Riley said. “There’s a very basic need for this.”

Today, the 30-unit Tafoya Terrace, which serves seniors and disabled tenants, is the primary project for Moorpark’s elderly. Overall, there are nearly 100 other rental units in two complexes that have rent restrictions to keep them affordable for tenants of all ages, Burns said.

In the next five years, Moorpark should build 1,255 more units to house its share of new residents expected to settle in Ventura County, according to the county’s Council of Governments.

Of those, 383 would accommodate buyers and renters of moderate incomes, 155 would target those of low income, and 269 units would be for residents with very low incomes -- $37,350 or less for a family of four.

Moorpark is working with Calabasas developer Wayne Colmer to add six below-market homes in a housing development called MoonDance-Moorpark, south of the former school district headquarters.

Colmer’s 22-home tract, where most houses will cost $250,000 to $300,000, includes three of the discounted houses. He will construct three more on an adjacent parcel the city bought last year for $360,000.

Riley said Moorpark would purchase each of the three homes for no more than $127,500 for resale to low-income residents.