$110,000 Raised for Hidden Creek Ranch

Backers of Hidden Creek Ranch have spent more than $110,000 seeking to protect the proposed development at the ballot box, campaign finance statements show.

Messenger Investment Co. of Irvine has submitted a report showing the political action committee it formed in August had raised nearly $140,000 through Sept. 30.

Of $110,571 spent during that time, at least $63,000 went toward an unsuccessful effort to fight a referendum that could stop the 3,221-unit project.

By contrast, supporters of the referendum spent $1,195 and raised $770 gathering enough signatures to qualify the measure for a Jan. 12 special election.

In addition to opposing the referendum, the developer’s committee--called Moorpark Citizens for the Greenbelt and Yes on F--is campaigning for the City Council’s growth-control proposal, Measure F, which is on the Nov. 3 ballot.

The Messenger committee received $94,000 from the Beverly Hills-based developer Shapell Industries Inc. The rest of the money came from Hidden Creek Ranch L.P., a partnership owned primarily by Messenger.

If approved, Hidden Creek Ranch would be built over 15 to 20 years on 4,300 acres outside the city’s existing boundaries.

The city’s plans to annex the land go before the Local Agency Formation Commission later this month.