Acorn stands by its story

Last week's T.O. Acorn reported, "The proposed Home Depot would be dwarfed by the 55foot high, four-story buildings planned to line Thousand Oaks Boulevard from Duesenberg Drive to Moorpark Road."

This was disputed in Tuesday night's City Council meeting.

"For the record, it needs to be made crystal clear there was no reference at all or mention of highrise buildings or building four-story buildings to line the boulevard from Duesenberg (Drive) to Moorpark (Road)," said City Manager Scott Mitnick on Tuesday.

During an earlier meeting, Mitnick told the Acorn that buildings could be varied in size and not all of them would be four-story.

The plans proposed by the Thousand Oaks Business Improvement District for the boulevard that are currently being studied by the city are expected to comply with Measure E and the city's General Plan, Mitnick said.

Last week, Erik Justesen, a consultant hired by a group of boulevard property owners, said a state law could be used to add more density to Thousand Oaks.

That is the Density Bonus Program, Mitnick said.

The Density Bonus Program would grant a developer a density at least 25 percent higher than permitted under the existing General Plan and zoning ordinances for a specific parcel of land, if the developer builds and maintains a prespecified portion of the property for low or very low income housing units.

- Nancy Needham