THOUSAND OAKS : Business-Upgrade Constraints Near OK
An ordinance that would limit Thousand Oaks’ power to force business owners to make property improvements has moved closer to approval.
The council Tuesday agreed to hold a hearing and vote on the business-improvement proposal and on a plan to streamline the city’s building regulations regarding access for the disabled.
Both initiatives were forwarded to the council by a group of business leaders formed by Mayor Elois Zeanah nine months ago.
The Mayor’s Business Roundtable, which was adopted as a standing city committee at Tuesday night’s meeting, has submitted a list of changes that members say will improve relations between the city and the business community.
All the ideas, including the two forwarded Tuesday for consideration, stemmed from brainstorming sessions at weekly meetings organized by Zeanah.
The business improvement ordinance, if approved, would address business leaders’ concern that each time local business owners ask to make a change to their property, the city can require that a host of other improvements be made.
The result, said member Francisco Behr, is that businesses are deterred from making improvements at all. With this proposal, Behr said, businesses will be encouraged to upgrade their properties, a move he said would benefit the city.
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