MOORPARK : Council Studies Road Fee Waivers

The Moorpark City Council is considering waiving road improvement fees for churches and other tax-exempt organizations that want to expand their facilities.

Under the current policy, commercial builders, including churches, must pay between $1,560 and $3,553 per acre to improve roads and other public services near their developments.

If the council approves the new policy at its July 25 meeting, it would be a financial windfall for at least two Moorpark churches.

Grace Chapel Foursquare Church, which moved in January from Walnut Street to a new $200,000 building on Los Angeles Avenue, could receive a $5,000 refund if the policy is approved.

And Moorpark Presbyterian Church, which will build a 23,000-square-foot complex under a plan approved by the council last week, would not have to pay about $25,000 in road improvement fees.

Members of the church been planning for the past five years to build the complex, which will contain offices, classrooms and a meeting hall, on a seven-acre site at Peach Hill and Spring Road. Last week, the Rev. David Benefiel said the fee waiver would be a blessing.

Organizations, including some nonprofit hospitals, would be eligible for the fee waiver if they are exempt from paying taxes under federal laws.