Lang Ranch Plan Assailed : Suit Says Thousand Oaks Violated Growth Limits

A group of Thousand Oaks residents filed a lawsuit Thursday asking that the city be forced to re-evaluate a huge housing development approved for the 2,500-acre Lang Ranch.

The Westlake North Property Owners Assn., which filed the suit in Ventura County Superior Court, says the city violated its 1980 growth-control ordinance by approving the 2,257-unit development. The ordinance limits new housing construction to 500 units per year.

The City Council approved the project in September over the protests of homeowners association members, who said the project would create traffic and air-quality problems.

City officials said they had no choice but to approve the development under the terms of a settlement the city negotiated with the property owner in 1986. That settlement ended a suit filed in U.S. District Court by Lang Ranch Co., the property’s owner, which claimed that the City Council agreed in 1971 to exempt the property from any growth-control law.

The homeowners’ lawsuit says the city and the project’s developers improperly agreed to the settlement without consulting the public. It asks that the city modify the settlement agreement, although it does not specify what the terms of a new settlement would be. It also seeks to have the city reassess the environmental impact of the project.

Construction Unaffected

The Lang Ranch is east of the Moorpark Freeway, between Avenida de Los Arboles and Sunset Hills Boulevard. The homeowners association represents about 500 residences just south of ranch property.

The association is suing the city, its five City Council members and several developers of the project.

City Councilman Frank Schillo said the suit will not prevent construction from beginning because the homeowners are not seeking a restraining order.

The city does not plan to spend money to defend itself, City Atty. Mark G. Sellers said. “The real party in interest is Lang Ranch, and they should be the ones pulling the oar,” he said.

David Green, a managing partner of Lang Ranch Co., declined to comment on the suit. Dave Stanley Brown, a vice president with The Anden Group, one of the developers of the project, said his firm believes the suit is unfounded.

No hearing date has been set in the case.