Moorpark Downtown Specific Plan

The Moorpark Downtown Specific Plan will guide the future development, design, and character of Downtown Moorpark, ensuring that it reflects the community’s values and long-term vision.

Decades after the focus of economic activity in the suburban areas of Moorpark, Downtown is enjoying a remarkable resurgence. Private investment and public infrastructure improvements, including a new library, are sparking new life in the City’s oldest district. These sparks have occurred within the context of an outdated Specific Plan that is difficult to administer and inconsistent with the City’s newly updated General Plan and Zoning Code. This project is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to provide the roadmap and framework to guide and encourage Downtown’s next act while enhancing the characteristics that make it special.

In continuation of PlaceWorks’ prior work on the City of Moorpark’s General Plan and Zoning Code Update, the design team is now updating the Moorpark Downtown Specific Plan. Our team designed customized form-based objective development standards to encourage new investment in Downtown, facilitated a robust outreach and engagement plan, prepared a streamlined and concise Addendum to the 2050 General Plan Certified EIR, and supported public hearings and adoption. The updated Specific Plan will shape a vibrant, walkable, and connected community around High Street and the Moorpark Metrolink Station. The Specific Plan emphasizes high-quality design, encourage housing and mixed-use projects, enhance public spaces, improve walking and transit connections, and preserve the small-town character that makes Moorpark unique.