Cal Lutheran Keeps Mum on Its Plans for Development

Cal Lutheran University officials are quietly moving forward with plans for developing 200 acres of mostly open space north of Olsen Road--land that is environmentally sensitive and the subject of past battles with residents.

Although university officials are scheduled to appear before the City Council and Planning Commission later this month, they declined to say what would be built, where it would be located and what it would cost.

“We don’t want to make anything public until we talk to our regents and present our plans to the city,” said university spokeswoman Lynda Fulford.

City planners also are reluctant to offer specifics about the development.

“There’s a concern about releasing the plan for public consumption before it’s officially submitted and revised to comply with city ordinances and regulations,” said Michael Sangster, deputy director of the city’s Community Development Department.

Sangster did say that the proposal calls for a lighted stadium, gymnasium, improved ball fields and classrooms for physical education courses.

In preparing the expansion proposal, the university is updating its campus master plan. A 1991 draft of the plan, withdrawn because of public opposition, called for multifamily housing, a new child-care center, a new pedestrian bridge over Olsen Road and a swimming complex.

Founded in 1959, Cal Lutheran is largely contained on 85 acres south of Olsen Road. University holdings on 200 acres across the street run north to Mountclef Ridge, where the letters “CLU” stand out on the rocky slope.

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Currently scattered across the vast, relatively undeveloped property north of the main campus are a child-care center, a baseball diamond and a soccer field.

Fulford said university officials don’t want neighboring property owners to panic about possible development.

The university may have good reason to be concerned.

In 1992, area residents opposed the installation of a 150-foot radio antennae tower on the ridge and forced the university to place it elsewhere.

Jean Spicer, who lives at the corner of Autumn Leaf Drive and Mountclef Boulevard, fought the radio tower and said she intends to fight any development that would interfere with her “view of gorgeous open space.” She is also concerned that a new stadium would bring noise and light pollution to the neighborhood.

“I think it would be a disaster for us,” Spicer said, standing in front of her home about 40 feet from the north campus area, a sloping meadow sprouting green grass after recent rains. “Our property values would go down.”

She added that she would sell her home of 17 years if the project converted her view from greenery to buildings.

But not all neighbors are ready to do battle. Randy Wakaki, a 20-year resident of Verde Vista Drive, said that although he values the neighborhood’s peace and quiet, he understands the university’s right to develop its property.

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“I don’t want to be selfish. You have to consider what their needs are. I just hope their needs will benefit the community as a whole,” Wakaki said.

Sangster said the Feb. 24 study session would help city planners decide what kind of environmental review the project would require. Under the California Environmental Quality Act, a full environmental impact report is not necessary if development avoids significant impact on natural resources.

Among environmental concerns is preservation of the ridgeline, native plants and two small streams and wetlands that traverse the property. Before the city decides what environmental review is required, the university must provide a survey of wildlife that lives in the grasslands and wetlands, Sangster said.

Areas close to the ridgeline support three sensitive plant species, according to Mary Meyer, plant ecologist with the state Department of Fish and Game.

They are the federally endangered Lyon’s pentachaeta, a member of the sunflower family; the Conejo dudleya, a succulent plant listed by the federal government as threatened; and the Conejo buckwheat, listed by the state as rare.

Meyer said the latter may not be on CLU land, but if it is nearby it should be included in an environmental analysis.

Tom Maxwell, a Sierra Club and Audubon Society activist who lives in the area, said he also has seen horned larks on the meadow. The bird is on the state list of species of special concern, and its presence in the area would also require study.

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Maxwell has spotted more-common critters on the proposed project site, including doves, finches, sparrows, hawks, roadrunners, bobcats, rabbits, squirrels and gophers.

Protecting view corridors and avoiding a “hard transition from open space to campus environment” is a priority for his staff, Sangster said. Landscaped berms could be used to hide buildings.

Sangster is confident affected residents will make their concerns known.

“The public has a very loud voice in this community regarding the outcome of project designs,” he said, adding that the city is also committed to preserving and enhancing the beauty of the natural environment.

A possible benefit to Thousand Oaks residents is a partnership between the university and the Conejo Recreation and Parks District, which may provide financial assistance to build sports facilities that could be shared with the public, he said.

University President Luther S. Luedtke, in a statement released by the university, said “it would be premature to discuss” the plan.

“However, we are looking forward to presenting our preliminary concepts to city officials, our neighbors and the community, and to receiving their input. Our thinking reflects a sincere sensitivity to our land and our community,” he said.

Councilwoman Judy Lazar, who has seen the proposal as a member of CLU’s informal community advisory panel, was willing to divulge a few details and express her support for the master plan update.

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The plan includes building a new main entry so that the school has a “sense of presence in the community,” she said.

It also aims at concentrating academics on the south side and athletics on the north side, activities that are more compatible with the open space and ridge to the north, she said.

Lazar also hailed the educational and cultural benefits the university has offered the region.

“This expansion plan will only help the community,” Lazar said. “I am looking forward to the unveiling of their plan [this] week.”