Plan for Old City Hall Site Studied : Thousand Oaks: Anticipating sale or lease of the 62-acre parcel, the City Council will consider developing guidelines for its use.

Amid talk that prospective buyers are seriously considering the old City Hall on Hillcrest Drive, the Thousand Oaks City Council will likely initiate setting guidelines Tuesday for the property’s development.

After years of watching and waiting while the local commercial real estate market recovered from the recession, City Manager Grant Brimhall said the time may at last be ripe to sell the building, which has been empty since 1988.

“The market is increasing significantly in strength here,” Brimhall said. “The amount of office space for lease in the Conejo Valley has dropped dramatically, and it is a premium site with magnificent views and access.”

Brimhall declined to say who the buyers or lessors might be.

“There are some interested parties,” he said coyly.

The council will vote Tuesday on whether to begin the lengthy process of establishing a Specific Plan for the property, expected to take at least six months to complete.

The plan would give potential buyers an idea of what the council will or will not allow on the 62-acre site, which includes the flat-top Fireworks Hill. Those guidelines would establish how much commercial or residential development would be allowed, define street access and parking requirements, and suggest architectural standards.

Council members said setting guidelines is key to selling the property.

“It’s very hard for an interested party to make an offer when they don’t know what they are making an offer on,” Mayor Jaime Zukowski said.

The council could even include specifics, such as which of the many oak trees on the site it wants preserved, or which parts of the property should be left as open space.

“The advantage of a Specific Plan is it does lay out to a buyer the areas that he can use,” Councilwoman Judy Lazar said. “That way, he can be generally assured that he will be able to process his plans for development.”

For instance, Lazar said she considers Fireworks Hill, the hillside behind the old City Hall where the city shoots off fireworks every Fourth of July, to be sacred ground.

“I would want to lay out that Fireworks Hill is untouchable,” she said.

Councilwoman Elois Zeanah said she has no problem establishing a Specific Plan, as long as it conforms to city policies. Like Lazar, she wants to make sure that Fireworks Hill is preserved as open space. And she worries that too much development would ruin the hillside.

“I will definitely not agree to maximizing density on this,” she said.

To sell the property, Brimhall said the council will also have to approve a zone change for the entire parcel. It is designated as public land now, making it impossible for any development to take place.

“If it is left as public land, then it has no value,” Brimhall said.

The true value of the property has long been debated. The city planned to sell it to pay for part of the $64-million cost of building the Civic Arts Plaza. Officials counted on getting at least $13 million, its most recent assessed value, which depended on it being divided into three lots.

Unable to get that price, Thousand Oaks has held on to the property, causing some to start referring to it as an albatross around the city’s neck.

Boarded up and strangely silent, the old City Hall sits on a hillside overlooking the bustling Oaks shopping center. The building is essentially a hollow shell, having been gutted in 1988 after asbestos was found in the walls.

Until bright lights were set up on the property about six months ago, vandals had free rein on the building. Teen-agers used it as a party spot and, as a result, many windows are broken. Plywood covers about half the windows, which used to provide a panoramic view of the Conejo Valley. The complex has the eerie feeling of a ghost town.

“It is heartbreaking,” Zukowski said. “It was so vibrant and such a special place to be. And it still can be.”

There is one local group unhappy about the prospect of the old City Hall being sold. Backers of the Ventura County Discovery Center hoped to lease 401 W. Hillcrest for a planned exploratorium-type science center for children.

Last year, the group won tentative approval for its concept from the City Council, contingent on backers coming up with the estimated $600,000 needed to repair the building. Discovery Center supporters were told that if a buyer turned up before they raised the money, the council’s first obligation would be to sell the property.

Gary Elliott, a supporter of the Discovery Center, said the group has only raised about $25,000. He said gossip about a potential buyer had reached the group, but that members were continuing with plans regardless.

“At this point, we are just moving forward and hoping that whatever offer is made doesn’t pan out,” Elliott said.

The Discovery Center group still thinks that the old City Hall would be the perfect setting for the exploratorium, he said, but would consider locations elsewhere in the county if need be.

“We haven’t ruled out moving to another area,” Elliott said. “But we’re hoping Thousand Oaks will want us here. They have lost their bowling alley and their skating rink recently, so they really need things for the kids to do.”