THOUSAND OAKS : Planners Favor Open-Space Zoning

Thousand Oaks has moved a step closer to permanently preserving as open space almost 200 acres of privately owned land on parcels scattered around the city.

The Thousand Oaks Planning Commission voted Monday night to recommend that the City Council put new open space zoning on 194 acres of private property. The designation would make the property owners responsible for maintaining the land but forbid them from developing it.

The commission postponed action on a 37-acre hillside after hearing objections from Catholic nuns who own the property.

Almost all of the 40 lots that the commission will recommend for the rezoning are within residential developments and are already reserved as open space under their original development permits, city planner Scott Wolfe said.

So far, most owners have not contested the proposed rezoning, which would make it far more difficult to develop any of the property.

One owner who did contest the new zoning is the Sisters of Notre Dame, which runs La Reina High School at 106 W. Janss Road. Sister Lisa Megaffin testified that the sisters want to reserve the option to expand either their convent, which is home to about 50 nuns, or the high school.

Megaffin said Tuesday that the nuns are also concerned about the presence of coyotes on the hillside lot. Zoning the lot as open space may inhibit brush removal and other efforts to control the coyotes, who have been seen in the high school parking lot, she said.

Thousand Oaks established the open space zoning designation in May, 1991. The zoning is intended to formalize the process of keeping certain areas undeveloped, which is usually done for aesthetic reasons or to preserve wildlife habitats.