Thousand Oaks to Buy Site Near Old Civic Center : Real estate: The Fireworks Hill proposal ignites a heated council debate, with two members in opposition.

Moving to preserve a cherished ridgeline while boosting the development potential of an oak-dotted hill, the Thousand Oaks City Council has voted to buy a 27-acre parcel behind the old civic center on Hillcrest Drive.

The property--known as Fireworks Hill because of the annual Fourth of July celebration there--has been listed for sale at $650,000, but Councilman Alex Fiore said he believes city negotiators can cut a better deal.

Now owned by City National Bank in Beverly Hills, the parcel had been valued at more than $1 million before the real estate market collapsed. The current price is somewhat flexible--but not much, broker Joe Wilkins said. “We put it on the market at $650,000 with every intention of selling it at that price, or very close,” said Wilkins, who is marketing the property through Young Realtors.

Buying the flat-topped, chaparral-covered hill will allow the city to protect the plateau, which offers an unparalleled view of Thousand Oaks. Several residents this week vowed to raise money for a park atop the steep slopes, perhaps featuring a dramatic sculpture of an oak tree painted sparkling gold.

“We want to preserve this prime piece of real estate for the benefit of the community,” businessman Russ Goodenough said after describing his vision of a Golden Oak Park. “We may never have this opportunity again.”

In addition to augmenting the city’s open-space holdings, the purchase of Fireworks Hill would allow Thousand Oaks politicians to control development on the entire civic center property at 401 W. Hillcrest Drive, Fiore said. Fireworks Hill is situated just north of the city-owned civic center parcel, in the crook between St. Charles Drive and McCloud Avenue.

The council is counting on selling the 32-acre civic center parcel for roughly $12 million to pay for the last stage of construction at the new Civic Arts Plaza.

By adding some sections of Fireworks Hill to the old civic center property, the city might lure more buyers, Fiore said. “It would make our property much more marketable,” he told the council late Tuesday night.

Potential developers would be able to design their projects knowing that the plateau looming above them will remain bare or become a city park.

To further encourage buyers, the city might consider a so-called “density transfer”--allowing more intense development on the civic center property after ensuring protection of the ridgeline. A citizens committee recently recommended such an approach to give developers more flexibility in dealing with the rough terrain.

While all council members Tuesday praised Fireworks Hill as one of Thousand Oaks’ most prominent and important properties, Mayor Elois Zeanah and Councilwoman Jaime Zukowski voted against the acquisition.

In a heated exchange with Fiore, the mayor argued that the city could control development through zoning instead of putting up cash.

Furthermore, Zeanah said, residents had ranked Fireworks Hill ninth on a list of 17 properties worthy of open-space protection.

“There are so many sensitive parcels in our city that residents have asked us to purchase,” she said. “This parcel has been on the bottom of citizens’ wish list.”

The other council members sat quietly through the arguments. But when Zeanah tried to link purchase of Fireworks Hill to alleged cost overruns at the Civic Arts Plaza, the debate turned nasty.

The acquisition of Fireworks Hill was designed, at least in part, to help the city sell its civic center property and raise money for the Civic Arts Plaza, Zeanah said. Thus, she argued, the city should include the Fireworks Hill purchase price in calculations of the Civic Arts Plaza’s real cost.

*

In addition to Fireworks Hill, the city has bought several small parcels to improve access to the Civic Arts Plaza--including Robert Heggen’s maintenance yard along Oakwood Drive, which cost $600,000. Factoring all these purchases into the Civic Arts Plaza’s cost would swell the much-publicized $64-million construction budget, Zeanah said.

Her comments drew an anguished “No, no, no, no, no” from Fiore, who berated his colleague for “putting a spin” on the facts and “tossing out numbers” without providing proof.

But, as the meeting dragged on into its sixth hour, Fiore resigned himself to another 3-2 vote and stopped trying to persuade Zeanah and Zukowski to support his motion to purchase Fireworks Hill.

“Oh, brother,” he said. “I give up.”