Chamber Endorses Dos Vientos Project

Calling a massive Newbury Park housing project a “win-win for everyone in Thousand Oaks,” the Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce has endorsed the proposed Dos Vientos Ranch development.

A statement issued Wednesday by a representative of Arlen Miller, the developer who is poised to build about half of the 2,350-home project, said the chamber’s board of directors decided to endorse Dos Vientos Ranch.

“Dos Vientos . . . is good for our businesses [and] sensitive to our natural environment,” chamber Executive Director Fred Burkhardt said in the statement.

The statement also quoted Miller describing the project as “positive for Thousand Oaks in every way.”

The project, originally approved in 1988, has for years faced opposition from environmentalists and Newbury Park residents. They say it will destroy the rural environment on the western edge of Thousand Oaks.

One of the project’s foes called the chamber’s endorsement unsurprising.

“They’re against anyone who’s slow-growth, so of course they’d endorse this,” said Michelle Koetke, chairwoman of Residents to Preserve Newbury Park.

Koetke, who has helped raise money to fund lawsuits against the project’s developers, said she will continue to oppose Dos Vientos, even as building proceeds.

“They’ve got trucks barreling down the road, billowing diesel. . . . I don’t care what the Chamber of Commerce does,” Koetke said.