Nursery unveils plans at Kiwanis meeting
10-acre site still in question
By Sylvie Belmond belmond@theacorn.com

Bordier's Nursery Inc. Vice President Bill Russell made a detailed presentation last week about the large project the company is developing in the Tierra Rejada Valley.

"We've all seen the grading and the tractors south of Tierra Rejada Road," said City Councilmember and Kiwanian Mark Van Dam, who invited Russell to speak at a club meeting. Russell also answered questions from neighboring residents and Kiwanis members.

Bordier's purchased the 364acre property in 2001 to build a wholesale nursery operation that will be completed in about three years.

The project is developing slowly because the company must comply with all the rules that regulate agricultural businesses, said Russell, assuring residents that the valley will remain rural.

The largescale nursery operation will be neat, clean and environmentally responsible, he said as he illustrated his presentation with photos.

Grading is completed. Two knolls on the south end of the property were leveled to meet required grade for water recycling purposes, Russell said.

"We spent a lot of money to grade the Moorpark site to recapture our own water," said Russell. Recycling reduces water consumption by 60 percent and helps the company comply with local wastewater rules, he said.

The site will have two flood control channels and a sediment basin.

The company is also putting a sealer over the dirt to keep the dust down, said Van Dam, indicating excess dust was a concern for nearby residents.

Traffic flow and view issues were also discussed at the meeting.

The nursery will not be open to the public. The wholesaler supplies retail outlets such as Orchard Supply, Lowe's, Target, Home Depot and Costco.

Bordier's grows more than 1,800 varieties of plants, including ornamental shrubbery, perennial color, garden roses and Christmas products such as poinsettias, rosemary and containergrown Christmas trees.

The company employs more than 900 people year-round at five different locations. Employee turnover is low and benefits are good, said Russell.

Corporation owns land

A 10-acre parcel within the Bordier's property in the Tierra Rejada Valley belongs to University Corporation, a nonprofit auxiliary of Cal State Northridge.

The corporation's sole mission is to support CSUN with business and real estate transactions. It purchased the local land from the Conejo Valley Unified School District about two years ago, before Bordier's developed the nursery, said John Chandler, spokesperson for CSUN.

"There aren't many opportunities for the university to acquire property. So this was a good opportunity for us," said Jane Delorenzis, director for real estate and contracts.

According to Bordier's Russell, "They (the university) were desperate for land because of the shortage of housing for faculty, but they may be realizing that this wasn't a good purchase after all."

"We acquired it without a clear sense of future uses," said Rick Evans, associate executive director for the University Corporation.

For now, the corporation plans to lease the 10 acres to Bordier's, Chandler said. "What will happen with the land beyond that is not determined," he said.

The decision will be up to the university, the county and the city of Moorpark.

"There may be some opportunity to build much-needed housing," said Supervisor Peter Foy.

A land swap, trading the land in the middle of the nursery for a property at the edge of Moorpark just south of Tierra Rejada Road, could make sense because the property could easily be annexed to Moorpark, Foy said.

But Moorpark officials may not approve. While they're not aware of any plans for the property at this time, city officials said they're concerned that state agencies, like school districts and colleges, have the ability to circumvent the Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources regulations.

"Any housing development in the Tierra Rejada Valley would go against SOAR and the greenbelt agreement," said Barry Hogan, community development director of Moorpark.

But since University Corporation is not a government entity, university officials said, the concern isn't a valid one.