The Hills Are Alive With Talk of Cityhood

Residents of an upscale horse community in eastern Ventura County have been quietly exploring the possibility of forming a new city--but have shelved plans pending the outcome of a supervisor’s race in the March 5 election.

If successful, Hidden Valley would become the county’s 11th city. Its wealthy residents would gain greater control over everything from how often roads are paved to how many homes will sprout from its rolling, green hills.

But the push is already fraught with obstacles and tinged by the bitter growth politics that have defined the surrounding Conejo Valley for more than a decade.

Hidden Valley residents say they are motivated by a desire for better municipal services and control over building decisions. But critics suggest that the area’s largest landholder, developer David H. Murdock, is behind the push for cityhood so he can subdivide his land into pricey new homes.

Murdock owns 1,540 acres in Hidden Valley, including his 10-acre Arabian horse ranch, county records show. At a recent meeting where Hidden Valley property owners discussed incorporation, Murdock reportedly asked his neighbors to hold off until after the March primary.

Murdock also urged the homeowners to vote for Randy Hoffman, saying he would better represent their interests on the county Board of Supervisors than his opponent, Thousand Oaks Councilwoman Linda Parks, said Everett Millais, executive director of the Local Agency Formation Commission. Hoffman and Parks are vying for the Thousand Oaks-based seat being vacated by retiring Supervisor Frank Schillo.

“He said it’s important to get Randy Hoffman elected as supervisor and have someone who pays more attention to [Hidden Valley],” said Millais, who attended the Feb. 2 meeting at the request of the homeowners. LAFCO would review any proposal for cityhood before it goes to a ballot.

Parks’ slow-growth supporters have seized on that statement as evidence that Murdock is backing Hoffman because he wants to usher through new residential housing. Murdock has contributed $91,000 to Hoffman’s campaign, making him the entrepreneur’s biggest backer.

Critics charge that Hoffman will help Murdock push through cityhood for the area if he is elected supervisor. Supervisors are allowed to appoint a representative to LAFCO, which is influential in determining whether new cities are approved.

Murdock May Benefit

From Incorporation

“A Hidden Valley city would benefit David Murdock tremendously,” said Mary Weisbrock, president of the slow-growth organization Save Open Space. “If they become a city, those acres will not be under the county’s growth-control laws. And a beautiful, bucolic valley will be destroyed with urbanization.”

Murdock could not be reached for comment. But Rick Principe, president of the Hidden Valley Homeowners Assn., said Murdock did not spearhead the drive for cityhood.

Under current zoning, Murdock could build up to 75 homes. Weisbrock said she has no objection to that. But she worries that the number would increase if the land is taken out of county control.

Principe said he began exploring the idea of incorporation last year as a way to solve grievances with county government. Residents of the rolling horse country believe the county has ignored their requests to resurface Potrero Road, a two-lane country road that bisects the community, Principe said.

And a recent proposal to create a greenbelt for the area, which would place new restrictions on what can be built, has neighbors alarmed, Principe said. Neighbors want to preserve the area’s rustic feel, but don’t want another layer of bureaucracy imposed on them, he said.

“That would place new restrictions on things like building a barn or a riding ring,” Principe said. “We don’t need another bureaucratic department to review everything we do.”

Schillo backed off from the proposal after the homeowners group said it would not support a greenbelt, Principe said. But many think the idea will be resurrected if Parks, a slow-growth advocate, is elected, he said.

Roadblocks in the way of incorporation may end up scuttling the process anyway. How to pay for administering a city, staffing a city council and providing services is a key question mark.

But the biggest obstacle is a requirement that a new city have at least 500 registered voters. The county’s elections division said Hidden Valley has about 126 registered voters. The neighboring Lake Sherwood community has 865 registered voters, but Principe said it is unlikely that Hidden Valley residents would support joining forces.

“People in Hidden Valley do not want to give up control to anyone,” he said. “To go from giving control to the county to giving control to Lake Sherwood, they are not gaining anything.”

Residents Will Wait Until Election to Decide

Still, residents will hold off until the March election to make a final decision, Principe continued.

“Quite honestly, what we would like to see is a Board of Supervisors that will listen to us,” he said. “If we have that, we wouldn’t have to push for anything.”

Schillo acknowledged that Potrero Road has not been resurfaced for at least a decade. But other county roads are in the same condition because of a lack of road funds, he said. The supervisor warned residents to study the idea of cityhood very carefully before making a decision.

“If they want to be a city, fine,” he said. “But they will have to pay for it, and that will be pretty expensive.”