Vote Postponed on Dos Vientos Ranch

After five hours of public hearings, the Planning Commission postponed until next week a vote on proposed amendments to Dos Vientos Ranch, a 2,360-home development in Newbury Park that was approved by the City Council in 1988.

Operating Engineers Funds, one of two developers for Dos Vientos, requested Monday night that the commission approve a new environmental impact report for the project and allow significant changes to Borchard Road, one of the main access roads into the development.

The proposed changes for Borchard Road include:

* Reducing the number of lanes from four to two and increasing the maximum grade from 5% to 12%--a change that requires an amendment to the city’s General Plan.

* Postponing construction of the road until 1,200 housing units are occupied, not 600 as now planned.

Citing concerns about safety and increased traffic, several Newbury Park residents argued against the changes.

“These changes will place an inordinate amount of additional traffic on Lynn Road, Reino Road between Lynn and Borchard, and Wendy Drive between Lynn and Borchard,” Michelle Koetke, chairwoman of a group calling itself Residents to Preserve Newbury Park, wrote in comments filed with the commission.

Several residents said the steep grade on Borchard Road would turn it into a speedway, endangering the lives of Cypress Elementary School students, 30% of whom cross Borchard Road between Reino Road and Los Vientos Drive to attend classes.

The council is scheduled to take up the proposed changes Tuesday, putting pressure on the commission to make a recommendation on the project Monday.