Council Revives Transportation Center Debate

Responding to pleas from a citizens committee, the City Council engaged in a lengthy, spirited debate Tuesday on whether to take a second look at building a transportation hub south of the Ventura Freeway.

Council members late Tuesday had yet to decide whether to reconsider a 20-acre parcel near Rancho Road as the site of a smaller transit transfer station and park-and-ride lot than the one originally proposed.

Councilwomen Elois Zeanah and Linda Parks repeatedly spoke against reopening the discussion, saying that doing so would amount to going back on their word.

“We promised not to look at this site again,” Parks said. “I think we’re losing some trust here.”

But Mayor Judy Lazar and Councilmen Mike Markey and Andy Fox were open to at least reviewing the site as some sort of transportation facility to salvage about $1.8 million in state and federal grants that had been secured for the project.

“I don’t want a major bus depot,” Fox said. “I want a place for people to park and leave their cars behind.”

The City Council had rejected the site earlier this year amid complaints from residents of surrounding neighborhoods, saying such a facility did not belong on the outskirts of town. Council members also questioned whether residents were aware of the proposal and decided that more public outreach was needed.

But members of the Community Budget Task Force argued in a March 27 letter to the council that the Rancho Road area was the best possible location because of its proximity to the freeway as well as the availability of the land, which is now used as a park-and-ride lot.

“I believe this is a defining moment for the Conejo,” task force member Jim Bruno said. “This is not about development or overdevelopment. This is about addressing the future needs of the community.”

According to the majority report, the lease on the land expires in January and its future use as a park-and-ride lot is in jeopardy.

Public Works Director Don Nelson said little development would be necessary to turn the site into a transit center and keep the grant money.

“It does not have to be a building,” Nelson said. “It does not need restrooms. It has to have a bench, it has to have shelter and a place for buses to come in.”

Some residents spoke in favor of the Rancho Road site as a transit center, saying such a facility was needed to reduce traffic and pollution.

“At stake is not only our air quality, but the quality of life that brought most of us here,” business owner Russ Goodenough said.

But other residents said they were surprised to see the issue resurface.

“This is like deja vu all over again,” resident James Weintraub said. “It’s like a bad dinner that keeps coming up.”

With help from U. S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Thousand Oaks secured $1.2 million in federal grants to help pay for the center, which was originally expected to cost about $3.5 million. It was initially set to include stops for public as well as private bus services, a taxi station, ticket counters, bicycle lockers and a smaller park-and-ride lot.

However, the four dissenting task force members argued in a minority report that Thousand Oaks could use the state and federal funds for a center at another location. They also said the council should stick to its original decision to seek additional public input because, in their opinion, community interest in a transportation center was questionable at best.

“This hasn’t even been studied in terms of need, and it’s ranked very low in the citizens’ attitude surveys,” task force member Dan Del Campo said before the meeting. “We have buses traveling empty through this city. Personally, I don’t see this city becoming a big user of public transportation.”