Thousand Oaks Adds ‘Relief’ Clause to Tough Ridgeline Law

Responding to complaints that the city had gone too far in its attempts to preserve hilltop vistas, the City Council on Tuesday decided to poke a hole in its ironclad ridgeline protection ordinance.

Council members voted unanimously to add a “relief-valve” clause to the ridgeline ordinance that had been criticized by Cal Lutheran University and several others it potentially affected. The critics said the ordinance trampled on private property rights.

In limited cases, the new clause will give property owners in Thousand Oaks’ protected hilltop areas the ability to build structures larger than the old limits of 17 feet high and 2,000 square feet in overall floor space.

“We understand that the City Council has adopted a strict ridgeline ordinance,” Planning Director Philip Gatch said. “I don’t think that the staff is trying to find loopholes for anyone, but there are going to be a few minor cases.”

The Protected Ridgeline Overlay Zone ordinance, passed in 1991, never banned hilltop development outright.

But it described in minute detail--and with little room for flexibility--the specifications that hilltop buildings had to meet to preserve the nearly pristine ring of ridgelines that surrounds Thousand Oaks.

Numerous property owners, including private La Reina High School, complained that the ordinance, while only meant to preserve scenic views, could prevent them from having reasonable use of their property. More than 100 people from the high school alone attended Tuesday’s meeting.

The City Council listened to pleas from several landowners who said the Planning Commission should be allowed to make exceptions to the ridgeline ordinance on a case-by-case basis.

Council members agreed some leeway was needed--but only in rare instances. They stressed that the ridgeline ordinance, for the most part, is working just the way Thousand Oaks intended.

The City Council also voted unanimously to continue excluding properties owned by La Reina High School and Cal Lutheran from the zone affected by the ridgeline ordinance. The Planning Commission recommended in December to include the high school property, but deadlocked on whether to add the university.

Cal Lutheran administrators were concerned that if Thousand Oaks applied the ridgeline ordinance to about 25 acres of university land near Olsen Road, they would no longer be able to use the property as collateral when arranging for loans.

Dennis Gillette, administrative vice president, said if the city included the the college in the ridgeline zone it would have the same affect as condemning the property.

“We at the university are committed to the preservation of Montclef Ridge,” he said. “We don’t feel the city needs to step in and tell us how to take care of this [property].”

Officials at the 620-student, all-girls high school, situated near Janns Road and owned by the Sisters of Notre Dame, were concerned that the ordinance would prevent the school from building later additions to the 37-acre property. They stressed, however, that they have no current plans to expand.

“Given the benefits La Reina has brought to this community over the years, closing the door to future expansion is both unfair and unwise,” said Lisa Megaffin, La Reina principal. “We don’t want to be involved in a land-use dispute with the city of Thousand Oaks.”