Big Change Possible at Noted Thousand Oaks Site

If city officials ever find a buyer for the former Thousand Oaks City Hall on West Hillcrest Drive, redevelopment could forever change the appearance of the widely visible property and result in the loss of up to 90 oak trees, according to a city report.

But City Council members caution that the environmental impact report, scheduled to be reviewed by the Planning Commission on Monday, examines a worst-case scenario, spelling out what would happen if the city allowed the maximum intensity of development possible on the 62-acre site.

Such development could include a maximum 272,000 square feet of corporate office space or 437 residential dwellings.

“I don’t think the community would want to tolerate that kind of impact,” Councilwoman Judy Lazar said. “Intense residential development? That’s not going to do it.”

The report is an outgrowth of recommendations made two years ago by a panel of area residents charged by the City Council with finding new, appropriate uses for the property. City government moved out of the two-building City Hall complex in 1988, and ever since has been looking to redevelop the site.

The residents’ panel presented council members with a range of options, each allowing a different intensity of development. After a City Council workshop in September, city planners prepared a specific plan and environmental impact report to show the effects of the most intense development contemplated at the site.

Although most of the adjacent land, known as Fireworks Hill, would be set aside as either open space or a park, new buildings would stand out against the hill when seen from nearby streets and the Ventura Freeway, according to the report. And as many as 90 oak trees may have to be removed to clear the way for construction.

Mayor Andy Fox said such an impact on the site would be too severe.

“This is city-owned property, and I certainly would not support removing 90 oak trees,” he said.

Such intense development may not be necessary. The city recently entered negotiations with the National Park Service to lease part of the old 54,000-square-foot City Hall complex as a new headquarters for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

Scott Erickson, deputy superintendent of the recreation area, said the Thousand Oaks site is one of several buildings under consideration. The Hillcrest property, he said, has several advantages. Unlike the recreation area’s current Agoura Hills headquarters, the old City Hall has ample parking. And it is close to the Ventura Freeway, a boon to visitors.

“That site clearly affords the opportunity for good signage, so that a visitor can see it and say, ‘Oh, that’s where it is,’ ” Erickson said.

Fox said even if the National Park Service moves into the former City Hall, Thousand Oaks officials would still hope to sell the rest of the property. But having the agency’s offices there would help revitalize the property, exactly what the specific plan for the site is designed to achieve.