City Council Debates Flood Control Plans

Scrambling to save as many trees as possible, the Thousand Oaks City Council debated late into Tuesday night whether to approve a flood control project that would uproot as many as 98 mature oak trees in a North Ranch barranca.

Before council members was a last-minute compromise suggested by Ventura County Flood Control Department officials that would spare some trees and still allow the massive Lang Ranch development to move forward--a proposal that some considered the best solution to a difficult situation.

But environmentalists and some council members still questioned the need for the project.

Sierra Club activist Cassandra Auerbach argued that the compromise plan makes her suspect that further concessions could be possible. “The point is that they may be asking for more . . . than is really needed,” she said. “They should revisit the (environmental impact review) and look at other alternatives.”

Lang Ranch developer Ron Gallegher, on the other hand, urged the council to move ahead with the original flood control plan, which would fell 140 trees. The compromise would split the project into two sections, which he said could cause more environmental damage.

“It’s still my opinion, but to disturb two areas, I don’t think it’s right,” Gallegher said, adding another twist to the hours-long public hearing.

In Thousand Oaks, where oaks are considered the most important symbol of the city’s original rural beauty, a decision to tear up even one of the sprawling trees is never treated lightly.

When Lang Ranch Co. first asked for permission in the fall to remove the trees and build a dam and debris basin, North Ranch residents rallied fiercely against the project.

They protested that Lang Creek, the sometimes-stream that crosses under Westlake Boulevard at Avenida de los Arboles, is generally only a trickle, and hardly warranted a dam with capacity to hold 7.5 million gallons of water.

But flood control officials said the project is necessary because of ongoing development at Lang Ranch, where a 2,257-home residential project is being constructed. They said development will strip away hillside vegetation that normally retains rainwater.

The city sued unsuccessfully to limit the size of the development, but a court ruling in 1986 allowed the project to go forward as planned. With construction under way, the city Planning Commission approved plans for a debris basin in December.

In Tuesday’s debate, Councilwoman Elois Zeanah called the project “an environmental disaster” and questioned its size.

“In my calculations, Lang Creek only contributes 5% to the Conejo Creek watershed,” she said. “I’m very suspicious that this flood control requirement is an undue burden on the developer.”

But flood control official Alex Sheydayi defended the scope of the project, saying his office had deliberately taken a conservative approach in its calculations. “We used the worst-case scenario of a 100-year storm, six months after a burn.”

City Atty. Mark Sellers said the city of Thousand Oaks is bound by a 1986 legal judgment and by fear of future liability should the creek flood. He said the federal judges who ruled in favor of Lang Ranch could possibly hold the city in contempt if officials refuse to approve the flood basin.

“They don’t really care much about whether you’re trying to save oak trees or not,” he told the council.

Following a public outcry against the project, flood control officials said they were willing to revise the basin design. They said miscalculations had led them to overestimate the amount of runoff expected from the nearby hillsides.

Instead of building a combined dam and debris basin, Lang Ranch will now construct two separate projects, putting the debris basin on the eastern side of Westlake Boulevard and the dam in the barranca on the western side of Westlake Boulevard.

Many oaks will still need to be removed, but Gallegher promised council members that the company will try to minimize damage to the trees.

While Councilman Andy Fox and Councilwoman Judy Lazar favored the new alternative from the beginning of the public hearing, Zeanah and Mayor Jaime Zukowski appeared hesitant to accept the proposal.

Despite the compromise, members of the public said they were still dismayed by the impending removal of the trees. They fear that the loss of 98 trees will displace animals that roam freely through the barranca. Coyotes, mountain lions, great horned owls and hawks are often spotted along the tree-lined creek bed.