Zeanah Is Feeling Heat Over Letter on Project : Development: A claim by the Thousand Oaks councilwoman that some colleagues’ votes are already cast for Adventists’ plan is met with anger.

As they prepare to consider a project Tuesday that would change quiet residential Newbury Park forever, several Thousand Oaks City Council members are indignant over a letter from Councilwoman Elois Zeanah that implies their votes are already cast in favor of the vast commercial and residential development.

All council members were given a copy of a letter Zeanah wrote to her supporters about the Seventh-day Adventist project after a resident brought it to the city manager’s office and asked that it be distributed.

“The Seventh-day Adventist project proposes to change our General Plan, and if approved, as is expected by the majority council, the Thousand Oaks landscape will change,” Zeanah writes in the letter dated Nov. 16.

The letter also addresses campaign reform, which Zeanah says is needed in Thousand Oaks.

“Campaign contributions during the last two City Council elections speak for themselves,” it reads. “Lobbyists for developers and big business raise funds for the candidates of their choice. Consequently, they have undue influence over these candidates when elected.”

Mayor Andy Fox said the two-page letter is an insult to the rest of the council because it suggests that his vote and that of others have been bought by developers.

“In my opinion, the letter was unethical, unprofessional and most importantly, inaccurate,” Fox said. It puts a taint on the public hearing process, he added.

“I’m fairly satisfied that Mrs. Zeanah has already made up her mind,” Fox said. “There is no question in my mind that she is not coming to the public hearing with a fair and open mind.”

Zeanah brushed aside complaints about the letter, saying her negative feelings about the Seventh-day Adventist proposal are widely known.

“I stand by my letter,” Zeanah said. “There is nothing unethical about it. Maybe people don’t like the message.”

The church hopes to build a 750,000-square-foot commercial center, campus, senior citizen housing and residential units on 458 acres it has owned in the western part of Newbury Park since 1947.

The project violates many of the city’s regulations because it would require grading into hillsides, encroaching on slopes of more than 25% and jumping over a ridgeline. New roads would cut through open space, endangered native plants would be bulldozed and canyons would be altered. The commercial development, anchored by a Target store, would be 70% of the size of The Oaks mall.

In order to allow the project, the city’s General Plan, created in 1970, would have to be amended.

Approval of the Seventh-day Adventist plan would be a tragedy for the whole city, Zeanah said, but particularly the business community. While she initially was horrified by the environmental ramifications of the development, she said she is now more concerned about the economic well-being of other retail centers in Thousand Oaks.

In writing the letter, she said she was only trying to communicate her feelings about it to a relatively small group of people. Ironically, she said, her opponents have given the letter much wider distribution than she originally envisioned.

Both Mike Markey and Judy Lazar, who along with Fox are considered part of the pro-business majority on the council, said they were also disturbed by the letter. Neither of them have made up their mind about the project yet.

“Frankly, I’m insulted by the kinds of letters Elois sends out,” Lazar said. “She has no reservations about painting everyone with a black brush.”

Markey questions whether Zeanah should refrain from voting on the issue.

“I’m concerned whether there are some legal ramifications on her voting on this project,” Markey said.

Chuck Cohen, the land-use attorney who represents the Seventh-day Adventist Church, called the letter “highly presumptuous.”

While he said he doesn’t want to create more animosity, Cohen called for a public discussion of its contents at Tuesday’s meeting.

All of the council members have been wading through massive piles of documents on the issue. The Planning Commission spent more than 35 hours of hearings reviewing all the conditions and aspects of the plan before splitting 2 to 2 on whether to approve the project. The fifth commissioner was absent due to illness. The city staff has recommended against approval.

While Fox said the outcome of the vote is undecided, he said one thing is certain: It will take the council hours to get through the public hearing process on the Seventh-day project. With that in mind, he has asked staff and council members to keep Wednesday night open in case a second night of review is necessary.

After taking a look at the site himself, Fox is also recommending that each council member visit the area proposed for development.

“Just by reading the staff report you cannot get the full impact of some of the grading issues,” he said. “You just need to see what the staff is talking about.”