Decisions must be based on more than just the city's cash flow

Regarding your June 21 article "T.O. Boulevard business owners hear about trade-offs for 'smart growth,'" the Thousand Oaks Boulevard Association's out-of-town design consultant is suggesting four-story buildings lining the boulevard as smart growth for our town.

The city is in apparent agreement and anticipating the ensuing revenues from such a project. So the owners of property along the boulevard get a windfall, and the city fills its coffers.

But what about the rest of us?

Would a mixed-use project like this maintain the character of Thousand Oaks? Would the scale and style of 55-foot and higher buildings be compatible with the low-profile, two-story character of our neighborhoods?

This plan lacks a basic sensitivity to the culture, the history and the citizens of our town. Yes, perhaps a long-range vision is needed for the boulevard but not at the sacrifice of our local businesses, building height limits, oak tree ordinances and master plan density protection.

These outside consultants prove that they don't know the "flavor" of Thousand Oaks when they threaten our right to vote on density, menace our oak trees and promote more traffic. It's overdevelopment that leads to the intractable problems of traffic, pollution and congestion.

It's far easier to prevent these conditions than to solve them after the fact. The legacy of our town and our small businesses on the boulevard need to be maintained for future generations. This can be achieved by opening up the planning process to the residents of Thousand Oaks for their input.

Unfortunately, the draft created by the San Luis Obispo design group is unavailable, and just a few have seen it.

This is a bad start for a plan that should be transparent and for which community ideas and participation should be fundamental.

Unless there's something to hide, there should be no reluctance in releasing plans to the public every step of the way and let community values prevail. Al Adam, Planning Commissioner, Thousand Oaks