THOUSAND OAKS : Plan Backed to Bar Certain Businesses

The Thousand Oaks City Council gave preliminary approval Tuesday night to a plan to prevent such businesses as auto repair shops and funeral parlors from opening near the city’s planned $63.8-million Jungleland project.

The plan would create a special zone that applies only to new businesses that want to open in the 22-acre area off Thousand Oaks Boulevard between Erbes Road on the west and Conejo School Road on the east.

The zone would be more restrictive than the commercial zone in the area around it. It would ban certain manufacturing and industrial operations such as crematories, medical labs, auto dealerships and print shops.

A number of other operations, such as day-care centers and liquor stores, would be required to get a special permit from the city.

The plan is expected to be adopted in two weeks.

The council said it wants tighter controls on commercial development in the neighborhood considered Thousand Oaks’ downtown.

The site of a former wild animal park, Jungleland will be the home of the city’s first performing arts center and new city hall.

It sits near the community’s busiest commercial corridor and is surrounded by old businesses, some in need of renovation and repair.

In voting for the zoning change, council members said they did not want to be unfriendly to businesses that predate the Jungleland project. One such firm, Conejo Valley Veterinary Clinic, for example, is not in danger of being forced out, Mayor Frank Schillo said.

“We’re not encouraging them to leave,” Schillo said.