Borchard Road Deal Will Be Discussed

Thousand Oaks officials are expected to meet with developers of the 2,350-unit, $700-million Dos Vientos project Monday to discuss legal and planning issues surrounding Borchard Road, one of two traffic arteries feeding the proposed development.

In January, the city lost its last legal bid to stop Dos Vientos developers from building the road with a 12% grade, 7% steeper than ordinarily allowed.

The city approved the road in 1996 but reversed itself in 1998.

Developers are seeking millions of dollars in damages from Thousand Oaks for delaying the project.

While Monday’s meeting may be delayed because of scheduling conflicts, the city hopes to quickly resolve the developers’ legal claims.

“We’re trying, obviously, to try and come up with some settlement proposal or concept to settle this lawsuit and to meet our obligations under law to talk and discuss and be open to settlement,” said Mark Sellers, city attorney.

Besides trying to resolve the legal issues surrounding Borchard Road, the city hopes to discuss a plan for a safer road design which, if agreed to by the developers, would be built at the city’s expense.

But such an agreement would not be binding.

“They have the absolute right now to go ahead and build the road according to plans as approved by the court,” said Tim Giles, deputy city attorney.

The city can still put roadblocks in the way of Borchard Road.

For example, developers could build the road, offer to turn it over to the city, and the city could simply refuse to allow the road to be opened.

The city could also take over the road and, at its own expense, come up with a new design and build it.

That option could be a problem, though, because city officials calculate that bringing the slope of Borchard Road down to 5% would cost more than $20 million.