Infighting on Council Likely to Bog Down Debate

Two numbers--three and two--tell the story of this city heading into 1997.

Three represents Mayor Judy Lazar and Councilmen Andy Fox and Mike Markey, the business-friendly faction that makes up the majority of the City Council.

Two stands for Councilwoman Elois Zeanah and newly elected Councilwoman Linda Parks, the growth-wary minority that has a decidedly different take on most city issues.

Perhaps even more than the Thousand Oaks city councils of the past few years, these two sides simply cannot get along. And their divisive, petty, often personal infighting figures to dominate political discussion in the coming year--particularly when it comes to such hot topics as development and city finances.

“We talk about the division on the council, and I see that as issue oriented,” Parks said. “Because of the issues coming along next year--from the transportation center to the waste-water issue to the Woodridge development--I see it getting worse, unfortunately.”

A 3-2 vote, of course, is enough for approval on most matters that go before the City Council. But it is not enough to raise sewer fees, the sticking point of what has become the most drawn-out fight in recent Thousand Oaks history: the proposed $75-million upgrade of the Hill Canyon Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Just like they did a year ago when pondering their goals for 1996, council members say that resolving the sewer stalemate is one of the most important challenges they will face in the coming year.

The higher monthly sewer fee that city officials and the council majority see as the only way to pay for the upgrade requires a four-fifths vote. Zeanah and Parks oppose the higher fee, arguing there must be better ways to pay for the project.

“That’s going to be the main issue,” Markey said, his voice rising at the mere mention of the sewer plant. “Until the waste-water issue is resolved, we really can’t move on to much else.”

“We really need to put an end to that,” Parks agreed. “It’s out of hand.”

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There are certainly a number of pressing reasons to move forward with some type of plan to modernize the city’s aging waste-water system.

For one, a state agency is threatening to make Thousand Oaks repay $12.5 million in water grants unless the city can show that it intends to spruce up its sewer plant to meet increased demand as well as current health and safety requirements.

The state could also impose a moratorium on growth in Thousand Oaks--which could lead to a torrent of lawsuits from developers whose projects have already been approved. And the city is already facing one lawsuit from a builder, and possible legal action from contractors.

But the council’s slow-growth faction has refused to endorse the expansion plans, however, saying the project is too large for the city’s needs and shifts too much of the cost burden onto residents, instead of developers.

Hill Canyon is also the site of another important, although far less controversial, construction project facing Thousand Oaks in 1997. The Hill Canyon Regional Recreational Facilities Project--a long-winded way of saying public golf course and trail network--will move from a concept to a detailed plan in the coming year.

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City leaders say the challenging 18-hole golf course that is planned off Santa Rosa Road will not only take a load off overcrowded Los Robles Greens, but it will also provide Thousand Oaks with a source of revenue to help maintain trails and open space.

“We’re really going to move forward on that golf-course plan in 1997,” Markey said, “and that’s going to be a real plus for the city.”

The golf course, a joint project of Thousand Oaks and the Conejo Recreation and Park District, will not break ground in 1997. But elected leaders from both agencies will meet to fine-tune the proposal, and an environmental review will examine its impact on the area’s diverse plant and animal life.

“We’re going to have some major environmental-impact reports with that golf course,” Parks said. “That [Hill Canyon] is an environmentally sensitive area.”

As always, the minutia of development plans will be debated with gusto at meetings of the City Council and Planning Commission in 1997. Indeed, two upcoming projects--the Woodridge development and the so-called private side of the Civic Arts Plaza--have already generated quite a bit of discussion in city circles.

Woodridge is a plan to build 326 houses in what is now an open space area between Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley. For that to happen, Thousand Oaks first needs to annex 738 acres in the rolling hills just north of Lang Ranch, placing the area within city limits instead of in unincorporated Ventura County.

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Parks and other slow-growth leaders have argued that Woodridge represents the worst elements of urban sprawl, gobbling up the so-called buffer zones between cities and bringing their borders closer together.

“My feeling is that what we’ll see in the next year is more pressure to expand our boundaries, and Woodridge is the biggest example of that,” Parks said. “We’re also going to see an implosion within our core areas, developers looking to build projects that are denser than our roads can handle.”

But an attorney for developer Woodridge Associates has argued that the land was always set aside to be annexed to Thousand Oaks down the line, and that as part of the development proposal, most of the 738 acres would be donated to the Conejo Open Space Preservation Agency. All the homes would be built in a 105-acre area.

“It’s being made into a great big issue when I don’t think it needs to be at this point,” Mayor Judy Lazar said of the Woodridge project. “I don’t know what is going to happen with that. It would be good for us to lock up that land as open space instead of being at the whim of the county. Whether we are willing to allow development on that property is another question.”

Another development, the long-delayed plan to build a restaurant and movie theater complex on city-owned land beside Civic Arts Plaza, should finally get underway next year. But not without a fight from some concerned about growth, who believe the proposal is too intense for the area to handle.

Kilroy Industries, the El Segundo-based developer looking to build the center, has agreed to share a planned concrete parking structure with the Ventura County Discovery Center, a children’s science museum also proposed for the area beside Civic Arts Plaza on Thousand Oaks Boulevard.

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Although the developer and the city have agreed to terms, the land deal has yet to be finalized, and the nuts and bolts of the project will still have to undergo the scrutiny of the City Council and Planning Commission.

Along Thousand Oaks Boulevard, a city-assisted economic revitalization may finally get underway in 1997. Lazar considers the project, one of the most researched and talked-about subjects in recent city history, among her top priorities as mayor.

“The boulevard houses many of our small businesses, and I think there is unanimity on the council about doing something on the issue,” City Manager Grant Brimhall said. “There has been a lot of research, a lot of committee work, and this should be the year it is put to use.”

The Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Mayor’s Business Roundtable have been discussing ways to beautify and help businesses along the aging strip. City leaders are hoping that more business and property owners take part in the effort, since many of those directly involved in the boulevard have expressed skepticism in the past about city-involved face-lifts.

“I hope to see us focus on Thousand Oaks Boulevard to help businesses do the things they see as necessary to help them do business,” Lazar said. “I think that’s long overdue, and I think we need to get a lot of the businesses involved.”

Attracting more business to the Conejo Valley and tending to the needs of the companies already in Thousand Oaks will be the primary duty of the city’s economic development manager, a new position city leaders hope to fill in the coming year.

Brimhall said that corporate leaders have heard about Thousand Oaks’ low crime rate and open spaces, and many companies looking to relocate or open new branches have contacted him, saying the city is on their short list.

An economic development manager could help sell Thousand Oaks to the next potential Amgen Inc., the hugely successful biotechnology firm that is the city’s top employer, he said.

“The communities around us have done it, but it’s not a question of outdoing them,” Lazar said. “It’s a question of having a person that can bring new business and help keep the business that we have. And it has been shown that having an economic development manager pays dividends.”