Optimism prevails at city goal-setting study session
By Nancy Needham nancy@theacorn.com

Pictures of a bright future for Thousand Oaks were painted by officials attending the Citywide Goals Setting Study Session last week in the Los Robles Golf Course Community Room.

Suits and ties were left at home. City Council members and city staff dressed casually, mostly in sweaters, on the cold, rainy evening of Jan. 30.

Inside was a fountain of flowing water and bouquets of flowers decorating the tables.

A chart showing the city's line of authority was on view. At the top, running the city, were the residents, though few of them showed up for the nearly fourhour event.

The city's mission statement was reaffirmed. It states: "Extraordinary service to the citizens we serve is our purpose and product."

Community development director John Prescott pointed out the Thousand Oaks General Plan, a guide for the physical development of the city, which was approved originally in 1970 by about 40,000 people and still reflects the desires of its residents. The plan includes seven mandatory elements--land use, circulation, housing, noise, safety, open space and conservation.

City staff presented developments and renovations in progress or being proposed in the city, such as improvements on Thousand Oaks Boulevard and the specific plan and annexation of Rancho Potrero. Also mentioned were Old Town West neighborhood improvements and the redevelopment of Conejo Valley High School. Ideas for improving parking at the auto mall were also discussed.

Other major developments under construction in the city include Richland office park on Townsgate Road, Bollinger Office Park on Old Conejo Road and Wendy Drive, Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center expansion, Continuing Life Communities Retirement project, Hilltop and Racquet Club Residential projects, Selleck Commercial project on Newbury Road, Dos Vientos neighborhood shopping center and The Oaks mall renovation and expansion.

The Oaks expansion will include a stadium seating theater, outdoor restaurants and a Nordstrom department store. Demolition has begun and many trees have already been boxed and stored in the mall's parking lot.

"Once we have a Nordstrom, there will be no reason for anyone to leave Thousand Oaks to shop--we will have everything right here," City Manager Scott Mitnick said.

Projects not yet under construction include the Rancho Potrero Equestrian Center improvements, the Teller Road and Hillcrest Drive shopping center that may become a Costco, 69 homes in Dos Vientos, the 82-home Ventu Park project and the expansion of Hyatt Westlake Plaza.

Proposed projects include a Home Depot at the former Kmart site on Hampshire Road, a 236,000-square-foot research lab for Amgen, Conejo Gateway renovation at Wendy Drive and Old Conejo Road, an addition to the Thousand Oaks Teen Center and a retail center and hotel to be built on the former Home Depot site at Ventu Park Road and the 101 Freeway.

If those projects are built, the property taxes, sales tax and hotel taxes would provide revenue sources for the city.