MOORPARK NEIGHBORHOOD TO BATTLE TRUCKING FIRM.

Byline: Gloria Gonzales Daily News Staff Writer

Residents of the Virginia Colony, a small neighborhood just south of Los Angeles Avenue and east of the Ronald Reagan Freeway, have banded together to oppose plans by a trucking company to turn one of their vacant lots into a truck parking lot.

The neighborhood of modest homes has been around for as long as some of its oldest residents can remember.

``The neighbor to my left died last year, and he was 102,'' said Tony Simen, a retiree who lives on Nogales Road. ``The neighbor across the street is 96. . . . This area constitutes a major commitment on the part of some of the city's oldest residents, farm workers - and the sons and daughters of farm workers - who saved money and built these tiny homes.

``Though we might not have the wherewithal of some of the more affluent areas, we've been here a long time and we do care about our community.''

And because of their complaints about the proposal to turn the land west of Nogales Avenue and south of Los Angeles Avenue into a parking lot for trucks, the city also is expected to crack down on the trucking company, which has been operating at another nearby location without the proper permits.

The proponent, Shenkel Trucking, is a longtime Moorpark company, and for that reason city officials have tried to help it find a suitable location, said Councilman John Wozniak.

Operated by Madeline Shenkel and Bill Tanner, the company has been in the city for 20 years, but in the past few years, neighbors in two areas have complained about noise generated by the trucks.

Until 1996, the company stored its trucks at a site at Spring Road and Los Angeles Avenue, until neighbors in the Peach Hill area complained about the noise of trucks pulling into and out of the lots. Because many trucks are maintained after hours, the noise did not stop at day's end, and trucks frequently came and left during the evening hours, according to complaints filed with the city.

The company then bought a piece of land in Crawford Canyon, a site north of Los Angeles Avenue, across from and west of the Virginia Colony neighborhood. However, the land was zoned residential, and the company began operating there before securing zoning changes, and again neighbors complained.

Council members said it's ironic that some of the Crawford Canyon residents first suggested that the company move its trucks to land next to the Virginia Colony - land zoned for industrial use.

The company requested a special temporary-use permit that would allow it to store trucks next to the Virginia Colony neighborhood, and the City Council will consider that request tonight.

Virginia Colony residents intend to voice their opposition to the plan.

``This is a company that has a track record of creating noise, and it continues to operate on residential land in direct violation of city zoning ordinances,'' Simen said. ``Now they've asked for this temporary permit. . . . It's as if they think they can put anything they don't want in other parts of the city right next to our neighborhood.''

Shenkel and Tanner declined to comment on the issue.

Simen acknowledged that the land next to Virginia Colony is zoned for industrial use, but said the company wants to occupy the land and build at least one temporary structure without going through the development process.

``It's properly zoned but undeveloped,'' Simen said. ``They would have to file a development permit and go through the process before building anything there.''