Thousand Oaks OKs Building of 2,350 Homes

The Thousand Oaks City Council voted Friday to approve construction of 2,350 homes on the Dos Vientos Ranch near the southwest corner of the city, ending a long series of public hearings.

The council decision, on a 4-1 vote, was applauded by homeowners who had fought for several months to force reductions in the size of the project, which was originally supposed to have nearly 4,000 homes.

“It is a compromise,” said Thousand Oaks Councilman Lawrence E. Horner, who sided with the council majority.

May Abandon Project

But Charles Cohen, an attorney representing the developers, told the City Council that the reduction in the number of homes approved may force his clients to abandon the project. The council gave the developers, Courtly Homes of Los Angeles and the Operating Engineers Pension Trust of Pasadena, 40 days to present a new plan.

The 4,570-acre Dos Vientos Ranch, situated between Potrero Road and the Ventura Freeway outside the southwest city limits, is one of the largest undeveloped parcels in the area. The City Council must approve several land-use changes and annex the property from Ventura County before it can be developed.

Project developers had promised to contribute more than $30 million in such city improvements as new roads, parks and school sites in exchange for approval to build at least 3,675 homes and condominiums on 2,300 acres of the rural property. During a hearing before the council last week, developers also offered to contribute $5 million for the city to purchase more than 600 acres of nearby open space.

Many Public Improvements

Residents who supported the project said that no other development on the property would likely provide as many public improvements to the city.

But strong opposition to the proposed number of new homes, which would have brought an estimated 10,000 new residents to Thousand Oaks over the next 20 years, continued through nine Planning Commission and three City Council hearings over the past several months.

Residents opposing the project testified during the hearings that the development would create too much traffic, noise and school crowding.

The number of homes approved by the City Council, however, “is within the range of what the community can absorb,” said Mike Penilla, a local resident and member of the Potrero Valley Homeowners Assn. That group collected more than 2,000 signatures against the developer’s original proposal, and formed the bulk of citizen opposition to the project.

The Planning Commission in July recommended allowing only 1,600 homes and condominiums on the Dos Vientos Ranch.

City Councilman Tony Lamb, who cast the sole dissenting vote, favored allowing the developer to build 3,675 homes.