THOUSAND OAKS : Plan for 50-Foot-Tall Amgen Lab Rejected

The Thousand Oaks Planning Commission, seeking to uphold strict city limits on building height, rejected Amgen’s request Friday to build a 50-foot-tall research facility in Newbury Park.

The biotechnology firm had proposed building a 247,000-square-foot laboratory with underground parking at Hillcrest Drive and Rancho Conejo Boulevard as part of a planned decades-long expansion program.

At a hastily scheduled meeting that started Thursday evening and stretched past 1 a.m. Friday, the Planning Commission rejected the building because it exceeds the city’s 35-foot height limit.

Amgen officials argued that the extra height was necessary because the building contains elaborate laboratories that require space for special heating and cooling ducts and other equipment.

“You can see the (building’s highest point) if you’re on the Borchard Road overpass or on top of a hill in Lynn Ranch,” said Ed Bjurstrom, the company’s director of engineering and construction. “But it won’t be obtrusive.”

In addition to the height, commissioners expressed concern that the proposed research building would crowd nearby streets. Amgen had asked for waivers of the city’s standard requirements that buildings be set back a certain distance from the curb.

“The council made it clear that they want exceptions made for this community resource, which is providing jobs,” Commissioner Marilyn Carpenter said. Yet she added that the height and setback waivers Amgen requested seemed too drastic.

The decision came just days after the Planning Commission approved other aspects of Amgen’s plan, including closing a section of Camino Dos Rios to create an insulated corporate campus. The City Council will review the entire expansion plan, including the street closure and the 50-foot research facility, on March 1.