Thousand Oaks Voters May Decide on Raising Fees to Protect Open Space : Environment: Council will weigh placing measure on ballot to charge developers more for housing projects.

Voters could decide in March whether to double, or even triple, the fees developers have to pay for preserving open space.

The money would come from an increased bedroom tax, which the council is considering putting on the March ballot, and would go to a fund depleted last year to help pay for construction of the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza.

“We have to find a financial plan to acquire and protect our open space,” said Councilwoman Elois Zeanah, who along with the city’s General Plan Review Committee made the recommendation.

On Tuesday night, the council will consider asking staff to come up with an appropriate dollar amount to ensure that the city protects the scenic ridgeline that has become Thousand Oaks’ trademark.

The city has not updated the bedroom tax since 1972, when it implemented a one-time fee of $50 per bedroom on every new residence with more than three bedrooms, not to exceed $200 a house. The fees go into a fund for land acquisition and park and trail maintenance.

City officials also must decide whether such fees would be levied on only new developments that have not gone through the permitting process or would also include projects such as Dos Vientos, which have been approved but not yet built.

In 1973, a city-sponsored study suggested raising the limit to $475 per unit, but the council never acted on the plan.

Zeanah said that proposal would raise $4 million by the time the city had reached its maximum development.

The city of Ventura currently charges similar development fees ranging from $333 for a one-bedroom house to $1,031 for houses with four or more bedrooms. The money is used for parks and recreational facilities.

Zeanah said Thousand Oaks’ current parks fund has less than $100,000 remaining. Last year, the city took $1 million out of the fund to help build the Civic Arts Plaza. The money was never repaid. “It was raided, and I want it returned,” Zeanah said.

Councilman Mike Markey, however, said he would like to wait until the city has finalized its budget before taking on the bedroom tax issue.

“I would also like to see other options,” Markey said. “I don’t want to see us start raising taxes on the community every time we want to do something. We need to look at other alternatives.”

Markey said he would be willing to put the issue before voters once the city has done a thorough study of how much money is needed to preserve the space.

Recent city studies have shown that residents rank public access to open space among the highest needs in the Conejo Valley. In a 1994 Conejo Valley survey, preserving open space ranked second on a list of 27 objectives that residents were willing to spend tax dollars on. It ranked first in the 1989 survey.