By Nancy Needham  nancy@theacorn.com

State and city governments may be married, but they don't always like each other.

Issues such as protecting the open space that cradles Conejo Valley, lowering speed limits on Thousand Oaks streets and changing the city's General Plan by adding high-density zoning may seem like local issues, but the state often has authority over what a city government can and cannot do.

The state can even come in like it has done in the past and raid local coffers to offset the state's budget crisis, Councilmember Dennis Gillette said.

Currently the city is struggling with a state requirement to add about 1,900 more dwelling units to the city's General Plan. Since the city is at build-out, some are wondering where California expects Thousand Oaks to add the required homes.

At the Dec. 18 City Council meeting, Gillette suggested state officials see the city's 15,000 acres of open space as a possible solution for the state-mandated high density residential zoning called the Regional Housing Need Assessment (RHNA).

"The state has a lot of power and authority and, I don't want to be a forecaster of doom and gloom, but the state can impose its will on us," Gillette said after the meeting.

If the city were a building that could comfortably hold 500 people, but 1,000 people wanted to come inside, the state could require all 1,000 be allowed inside--even if that meant they'd have to sit on top of one other.

Gillette explained the open space the city has struggled over the past 40 years is a safeguard to its residents' quality of life and protects the city from urban sprawl, but the state can require changes to the city's well-thought-out general plan.

"People have the right to live wherever they wish and the government is to protect that right as long as they do not harm others," said state Sen. Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks).

Thousand Oaks has a right to acquire and designate land as open space, but that use intensifies the need for land and puts other land in the city at a premium, said McClintock, who serves the state's 19th District.

He compared Thousand Oaks' open space to New York City's Central Park land use and the National Park Service, both important uses for land, he said.

"It's untrue to say I'm opposed to open space. I am saying it comes at a price," McClintock said.

As the population increases in California, he said, we have to have more places for people to live. He offers a solution to those who want to cap the number of people who live in Thousand Oaks.

"Stop having babies," he said. "To say Thousand Oaks isn't going to grow anymore is to say people will stop having babies and moving to California."

The RHNA doesn't promote growth, but requires communities to anticipate growth in order to enhance quality of life, improve access to jobs, promote transportation resources and address social equity, according to the Southern California Association of Governments. The state gives SCAG the authority to oversee the RHNA for the region.

"The shock and horror people have when they think about population growth comes from the realization that the government will not expand the infrastructure," McClintock said.

"People think, 'My community is already a living hell--schools are crowded to the breaking point and there are not enough roads or water.'"

When he moved to Thousand Oaks in 1965, McClintock said, people celebrated new developments because that meant a shopping mall, movie theaters and schools would be built nearby.

Those who thought people wouldn't come if building stopped were wrong, he said.

"People will come anyway and now we have shortages," McClintock said.

"The RHNA numbers mandate goes against the will of the local population who wants us to strictly adhere to the general plan," Mayor Jacqui Irwin said. "Our open space should absolutely never be used for housing even though the state doesn't care about Measure E and will do whatever it can to force local governments to do what they want."

Speed limits

That includes the state's dictating how fast people can go on Thousand Oaks streets, she said.

State law requires cities to set speed limits according to how a road was engineered and how fast 85 percent of the drivers go on that road, not according to what local residents or officials consider safe.

Former Assemblyman Tony Strickland proposed legislation to lower speed limits in Thousand Oaks, but it was killed while going through committee after McClintock opposed it.

McClintock stands by his conviction that the state should protect its citizens from what he called "speed traps set up by the whim of local politicians."

He said Lynn Road was engineered for 55-mph traffic and lowering it below 45 mph wouldn't be done for safety reasons.

"We would like to lower speed limits on major arteries, but the state makes it very difficult for us to do that if the traffic survey doesn't justify it," Irwin said.

The mayor said local politicians better know what residents want because they live and work in the community.

"We're where the rubber meets the road. We must be accessible, answer e-mails, meet with residents and keep our fingers on the pulse of the city--if there's a pothole, we have to fix it," Irwin said.