LAFCO Rejects Thousand Oaks Annexation Bid

A Ventura County commission has denied a request by Thousand Oaks to start a lengthy process to annex a 350-acre industrial area into the city--placing in jeopardy local desires to take over all the small pockets of county land in the Newbury Park area.

Wednesday morning’s decision by the Local Agency Formation Commission came after a dozen business officials and landowners expressed opposition to annexation of the Rancho Conejo Industrial Park, near Rancho Conejo Boulevard just north of the Ventura Freeway.

County Supervisor Madge L. Schaefer, a member of LAFCO, said it would have been a waste of time to allow Thousand Oaks to move ahead with the lengthy annexation process.

“Why put the city through the process if there is overwhelming opposition?” she said. “It was so obvious that it was going to fail.”

Thousand Oaks would have needed to gain approval from landowners representing more than 50% of the $205.5-million assessed value of the industrial area before it could have been annexed into the city. There are about 100 parcels in the area.

Many business owners complained that the cost of their refuse services would skyrocket if they joined the city. Some said they would need business licenses, something the county does not require. Others were worried that their buildings would need to be upgraded to meet city standards.

“Generally it would cost more for us to do business in this area,” said Sharon McBee, operations manager for Multilayer Prototypes. “We came out here 10 years ago because we wanted to be in an unincorporated area. There are a lot of little things that are not as strict in the county.”

Northrop Corp. in Newbury Park, which owns 100 acres in the area, was among the strongest opponents of the proposal.

“In light of our current organizational structure and industrial/economic environment, we have come to the decision that we are unequivocally opposed,” James E. Kinnu, a company vice president, wrote in a letter to Supervisor Maggie Erickson, an alternate LAFCO member.

Northrop officials told the commission Wednesday that their operating expenses would increase by 74% if they were to bring their facility up to city codes. In light of the cuts in the defense industry and problems at Northrop, which recently laid off 6% of its Newbury Park work force, the company could not afford to incorporate into the city, they said.

Nevertheless, Thousand Oaks City Manager Grant R. Brimhall said LAFCO should have given the city the opportunity to move ahead with the annexation process. He said the city planned to meet with the businesses to work out their differences. He said many of the opponents’ concerns are unfounded.

“We felt strongly we could go in and achieve concurrence in an amicable way,” Brimhall said. “There is a tremendous amount of misinformation and misunderstanding; it’s unfortunate that LAFCO did not allow the facts to be fairly presented.”

Brimhall said Thousand Oaks will approach the businesses individually to see if they will consider joining the city anyway. He said Thousand Oaks wants to annex the county pockets to provide the city with “more orderly boundaries.”

The city would also receive 14% of the county’s portion of the area’s property taxes, which could be used for city services and streets, officials said.