A farmworker housing development will displace the Ventura County Live Steamers from its Fillmore site, and the railroad organization is searching for another location, its president said.

The group, which has been at 270 Mountain View St. since fall 2002, does not know when it has to move because it is waiting for official notice from the city, Steamers President Ken Shaner said.

On the first Sunday of each month, and sometimes on Saturdays, the nonprofit organization has operated miniature trains that families, children with mental and physical disabilities and others can ride on 2,100 feet of main track, under bridges and through a 40-foot tunnel.

"It's going to be difficult for nine of us (members) to put it all back together," Shaner said of the organization's equipment. "Presently we don't have the enthusiasm to take it apart and put it back together again."

In April, the Fillmore City Council approved the housing development proposed by the Ventura-based Cabrillo Economic Development Corp. The project will include 21 rental apartment units and eight for-sale condominiums.

Shaner said he was disappointed the organization did not receive public support at the council meeting to stay at its site.

Project Manager Eduardo Espinoza said construction at the two-acre site should begin early next year. The completion date, formerly slated for December 2008, is now early 2009.

The development site is at the southeast corner of Mountain View and Main streets.

Shaner said it would be a challenge to find another site that could allow the organization to have the same setup. One difficulty may be finding easy access for those with disabilities, which the organization has at its current site, he said.

The organization has no definite plans to move to a new location, Shaner said.

"The city of Fillmore is going to be losing a large railroad attraction for the city to be able to draw the public to have family visitations," he said. "There are very little activities for the families to do anymore.

"The county at large right now is going to lose a little treasure that I don't think they realize," he added.

Camarillo resident Lewis Stone recently attended a Steamers event and heard about the closure.

"I was very disappointed," said Stone, 75, adding that he's not against affordable housing, but "I would think that the city of Fillmore should have found a place for them."

Deputy City Manager Bill Bartels said the Steamers is a valuable organization to the city.

"This is the trade-off of being a small community," he said, adding there is a need for affordable housing, but the city also wants Steamers to stay in the city. "I know it's the city's goal to try to meet both those goals."

Cabrillo is in the process of finalizing the financing for the development, he said.

The Steamers signed a lease with the city, and Fillmore is to give the group a 60-day notice to leave, Bartels said. The city, however, hopes to give it more time to leave, he added.