Council Votes to Rezone Hill Canyon

The City Council has voted to change the zoning at Hill Canyon to designate the area open space and to make the necessary changes in the city’s Specific Plan to protect the area.

The council’s action Tuesday, the latest step in a lengthy rezoning process, came after it considered how the move would affect wetland mitigation, expansion to the Hill Canyon Wastewater Treatment Plant and residents’ ability to hike, bike or ride horses in the canyon.

The Rancho Conejo Specific Plan, adopted in 1983, designated 154 acres in the canyon for a golf course. If the land wasn’t to be used as a golf course, it was to be zoned as open space, said John Prescott, the city’s planning division manager.

The first step in this rezoning occurred Sept. 28, when the Hill Canyon Recreational Resources Authority--comprising the council members and the five-member Conejo Park and Recreation District Board--voted to quash a proposed $16-million golf and recreational facility in the canyon.

Now that the council has initiated the zone change, the Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the matter within two months and bring back formal recommendations to the council, Prescott said. In all, the process should take three to four months before the council will be able to formally rezone the canyon as open space, according to City Atty. Mark Sellers.

“We’ve come a long way here,” Councilman Dan Del Campo said. “Even though we have 14,000 acres of open space in this community, these are some of the more significant ones. I think this is a very positive step for everyone.”

When the vote was announced, supporters of the canyon applauded.

“It’s what we wanted,” said Paul Nicholson, co-founder of the Hill Canyon Conservancy. “Everybody’s happy it’s on the track to protection, and we’re pleased it’s being zoned open space.”