Bill-de la Peña and Wall protect open space

Recently, the Thousand Oaks Planning Commission said okay

o the building of a 6,000squarefoot house and an accompanying 1,700-square-foot double garage on top of Mount Clef ridge.

This mansion was approved despite the fact that the city has a ridgeline ordinance limiting house like this one to a total of 1,700 square feet.

It was not only approved on a ridgeline, but it was also allowed on land designated as "undevelopable." My understanding of the word "undevelopable" is that it means you can't develop there.

In this case, the land where the house is going to be built is very steep. It has a 40-percent grade.

A grade that steep is good for skiing black diamonds in Mammoth, not for building houses in Thousand Oaks. And there's still another incredible thing about this building approval. The house is going to be built in the middle of a wildlife corridor.

What kind of sense does that make? Who's making these decisions?

Only one member of the planning commission had the sense to vote against this project--Janet Wall. Janet is running for a seat on the City Council, along with Councilmember Claudia Bill-de la Peña. I hope the voters in Thousand Oaks will vote for Janet Wall and Claudia Bill-de la Peña on Nov. 7. Let's get these women on the City Council so they can continue to say no to 7,700squarefoot houses on our ridgelines. Chip Bolcik Thousand Oaks