Closed hearing ends with closure of Silas Ave.
Neighborhood traffic safety advantages cited
By Nancy Needham nancy@theacorn.com

With Mayor Andy Fox and Councilmember Claudia Bill-de la Peña dissenting, the Thousand Oaks City Council voted 3-2 to close Silas Avenue in Newbury Park between Borchard Road and Cindy Avenue.

Bill-de la Peña said she couldn't vote for the road to be closed because she still had concerns about how doing so would affect traffic. Fox said it was a neighborhood issue.

Councilmember Dennis Gillette said that traffic congestion during school movement hours was similar to that of other schools in Thousand Oaks, and he thought there were safety advantages to closing Silas Avenue.

Gillette said he'd heard some horror stories from nearby residents about entering the busy Borchard Road from Silas Avenue, an uncontrolled intersection.

The May 15 meeting was a closed hearing that did not allow residents to speak.

Back in January, Louis Padberg, owner of a commercial property at 291 Borchard Road, addressed the City Council about what he called a roadblock to a relatively small project and said the delay was frustrating. At the time he thought the hearing was just a formality, he said. But residents showed up at the council meeting and convinced their elected leaders to do a complete traffic study before deciding to make the closure.

In November 1985, the property at 291 Borchard Road was zoned for commercial use with the condition that the property owner include the closure of a portion of Silas Avenue in development plans. The current property owners designed an office building in accordance with those conditions.

Now Padberg has been given the green light to move forward and provide Newbury Park with what he calls a quality development to replace the eyesore of trash and weeds that can currently be seen at the location.