THOUSAND OAKS : Noise Study Sought for Apartment Plan

Concerned about freeway noise at the site of a proposed apartment complex, Thousand Oaks planning commissioners have asked for a noise study at the site before they vote on whether to approve the plan.

The five-apartment complex, planned for a neighborhood of older homes that the city has long tried to rehabilitate, would sit between Royal Oaks Drive and the Ventura Freeway. Without a noise study, commissioners said Monday, they could not know what measures might be needed to protect future tenants from the sound of nearby traffic.

“I think the cart is before the horse here,” Commissioner John Powers said.

The project calls for two buildings containing three-bedroom apartments.

If completed, the apartment complex will become the fifth construction project in the area since the city designated it a “model neighborhood” in 1986.

The model neighborhood--bounded by Hampshire Road, Los Robles Road and the freeway--is an experiment to find ways to encourage redevelopment in old or run-down residential areas.

Within the neighborhood, some of the planning standards that builders must follow are relaxed, said Linda Parks, the commission’s vice chairwoman. Developers can build closer to oak trees, for example, or provide less front-yard space, she said.

“It makes it less expensive to build there,” she said.