Study Sees Boom in Area Between Woodland Hills, Thousand Oaks

A study of the rural area between Woodland Hills and Thousand Oaks has concluded that residential construction could lead to a threefold increase of population in the region.

Development of the area, encompassing 156 square miles along the Ventura Freeway corridor, southwest of the San Fernando Valley, is likely to result in a population of 189,600, nearly 50,000 more than predicted. The region’s population is estimated at about 69,600 today.

The study, the most thorough ever made for the region, was commissioned by administrators of the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District in Los Angeles County and the Triunfo County Sanitation District in Ventura County.

They are planning sewage treatment facilities to serve the area, bordered by steep mountain ridges and bisected by the Los Angeles-Ventura county line, including unincorporated Calabasas, Agoura and Oak Park areas and the cities of Agoura Hills, Westlake Village and Hidden Hills.

No Timetable Set

The analysis was done by an Irvine consulting firm using statistics compiled by cities, counties and school districts as well from projections by private landowners and developers. The sanitation officials’ report did not specify a time frame for the ultimate build-out of the area, which has served primarily as cattle-grazing land since the area was first carved up by Spanish land grants.

Consultant Sandra Bauer told directors of the Las Virgenes and Triunfo districts Monday night that estimates made by official agencies for sparsely inhabited, unincorporated areas have assumed that undeveloped land will remain empty.

Development statistics compiled by cities and counties usually count only existing developments or proposed projects for which builders have sought development permits. Using those figures as a basis, the Southern California Assn. of Governments has estimated that the population of the Las Virgenes and Triunfo districts will be about 140,000 by the year 2020.

Vote Next Week

Directors of the two sanitation districts are expected to vote next week on the first of a series of expansion projects for the area’s single sanitation facility, the Tapia Sewage Treatment Plant at the upper end of Malibu Canyon.

That is a $10.5-million effort to increase the plant’s capacity by 25%. The enlargement will be financed by special hookup fees assessed to homes being built in the area.

The Tapia plant can handle 8 million gallons of sewage a day and has room for expansion to 16 million gallons. The growth statistics suggest that a daily waste flow of 21.8 million gallons can be anticipated in the years ahead, sanitation engineers said.

Glen Peterson, a director of the Las Virgenes district, said already-developed areas such as Agoura’s Malibu Lake region probably will add to sewage treatment demands when private backyard septic systems fail and older neighborhoods connect to the municipal sanitation line.

Ron Stark, Triunfo district director, said the Tapia plant expansion could cause an outcry from environmentalists who have opposed it. The plant is in the middle of the Santa Monica Mountains, next to a popular Los Angeles County park and Malibu Creek State Park.

Malibu Beach Sewage

Residents who live downstream at the wealthy Malibu Colony have also protested when storms have washed out the plant and sent raw sewage flowing onto the Malibu beach.

Environmental leader David Brown said Tuesday that steps taken by Las Virgenes officials to eliminate leaks and odors has ended most community opposition to the existing plant.

“After 16 million gallons, expansion of the plant becomes a problem, though,” said Brown, a Calabasas resident. “If they start expanding beyond that, there’s going to be a big fight.”

Brown said he was skeptical of the population estimates and the need for radical plant expansion.

“The good land has largely been built on. The steep land is what’s left,” Brown said. “And when it starts taking two hours to drive from Las Virgenes Road to Woodland Hills, people won’t move here.”