Supervisor Unveils Oak Park Library Plan

Oak Park will move one step closer to having its own library if the Ventura County Board of Supervisors approves a project proposed Wednesday by Supervisor Maria VanderKolk for a 10,000-square-foot facility on Kanan Road.

The board is expected to vote on the $1.6-million project at Tuesday’s supervisors meeting. If approved, the community would begin a search for an architect and discussions of design and possible environmental impacts.

“I’m just asking for conceptual approval,” VanderKolk said. “There are so many steps that will still need to be taken if we get approval. This is really the very beginning.”

The affluent community of nearly 14,000, which has been trying since 1991 to get its own library, would pay for construction of the facility by using its untouched capital improvement fund, raised through fees charged to developers.

But because the fund contains only $1.09 million, VanderKolk’s proposal depends on developers’ fees from future residential projects, the sale of a nearby piece of county-owned land and other revenue sources.

The proposed library site is a piece of land owned by the school district, adjacent to Oak Park High School. School officials would lease the land to the county for $1 a year.

To meet the higher operating costs when the public library is moved from its current site at the high school to the new facility, the county would have to agree to increase the money it allocates to the community for library services. Costs would nearly triple, from $49,072 to $132,700.

“But we’re not asking for even the amount the community is already paying in property taxes for library services,” VanderKolk said. “This community pays three times in taxes what they get back in library services.”

In a measure on the June 7 ballot that will determine Oak Park’s future, voters will decide whether to begin annexation proceedings to become part of Thousand Oaks, a separate incorporated city, or to remain an unincorporated part of the county.

VanderKolk and community officials said Oak Park wants a library regardless of the outcome.

“It doesn’t matter what the community votes on the ballot,” said George Anterasian, a member of the Oak Park Municipal Advisory Council. “That is not going to change the fact that the community needs a library facility.”

Oak Park residents now share a small library with the high school. High on the list of complaints about the facility are the lack of nearby bathrooms, the small number of books and research materials available and limited operating hours. The library is staffed by the school district during school hours, and by a county librarian for 16 additional hours Monday through Thursday afternoons.

Vanderkolk’s proposal would only add four operating hours a week.

Though members of Oak Park’s municipal council said they approved of the proposal, some said 20 hours of access beyond school operating hours is not enough.

“There is a lot more that we would like to have done, but you’ve got to start someplace,” said Municipal Advisory Council member Ron Stark.

Council member Kent Behringer said he hopes the community will work to increase open hours once the project is completed.

“This is about all we can manage under the circumstances,” Behringer said. “You just can’t encumber yourself to a bigger amount if you don’t have the funds on hand.”

Though construction would empty the capital improvement fund, council members said they think building a library is the best use of the money.

“Realistically, it’s only enough money to do one project well,” Anterasian said. “But I believe it is an adequate amount to build a good-sized library.”

VanderKolk’s proposed budget for the library relies on collection of $957,000 in anticipated developer’s fees, including $100,000 the city hopes to gain from allowing one developer to exceed zoning restrictions. The construction budget also depends on the county allowing Oak Park to use $213,000 from an air-pollution mitigation fund.

“Everybody is concerned about future operating expenses for libraries,” VanderKolk said. “But this board is committed to library services and they realize that Oak Park has not received its fair share for many years in many areas, not just in libraries.”

If the project is not approved, she said, “basically, we’re back to square one.”