Local News in Brief : Thousand Oaks OKs Payment in Land Swap

The Thousand Oaks City Council agreed Tuesday to pay $250,000 to guarantee preservation of 228 acres of Wildwood Mesa as part of a trade of cash, land and development rights among the city and three developers.

The action ended a seven-year fight to preserve the land, which is surrounded on three sides by the 1,400-acre Wildwood Regional Park in the northwest corner of the city.

The owner of the property, Orange Builders of Santa Monica, agreed to give 228 acres of the mesa to the Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency in exchange for city approval to build 51 homes on 12 remaining acres.

In addition, Orange Builders will receive a 30-acre parcel and permission to build 31 homes in the nearby North Ranch area on land that had been zoned for a 41-acre community park.

Prudential Insurance Co., which owns the North Ranch property, and a third firm, Maler-Dinow Developers of Agoura Hills, will each contribute $50,000 to the Conejo Recreation and Park District and pay for some improvements at Orange Builders’ North Ranch site. In exchange, they will receive 374 building permits from the city.

City growth-control laws allow a maximum of 500 new building permits each year.

The deal was approved during a joint meeting of the City Council and the Conejo Recreation and Park District board. The city’s $250,000 will go to the recreation district to compensate for the loss of the 41-acre park.

The council still must approve zoning and city general plan changes for the deal to go through.