New home goes back to the drawing board

Mayor Jacqui Irwin and Councilmembers Andy Fox and Tom Glancy sent the plans for a single-family detached dwelling on Corrine Hill Court back to the planning commission for a redesign, which went against the recommendations of Councilmembers Dennis Gillette and Claudia Bill-de la Peña.

"Continuing to do the same thing and expecting a different outcome—I do not think that's the way to go," Gillette said.

The planning commission voted 4-1 in July to approve the home's construction.

Commissioner Al Adam, a City Council candidate, opposed it. An appeal, filed by a Corrine Hill resident shortly after the commission's approval, came to the City Council on Sept. 23.

The dwelling is planned for construction on a steep slope on a culde-sac in the southern portion of Thousand Oaks near the southwest corner of Los Robles Greens Golf Course. The property borders open space, and extensive grading would be required for construction of the home. Two oak trees would need to be removed, and seven oak trees would be endangered. The culdesac in the Lynn Oaks tract has a 45degree uphill curve, and in the center of the street's circle is an oak tree.

"My main problem with the project is the architecture. It just doesn't fit Lynn Oaks, period," said Tom Benecke, who lives on Green Meadow Lane, a street near Corrine Hill. Plans for the house include a turret.

"I'm concerned about the nightmare this huge building is going to create," said Marva Benecke.

The Beneckes bought their home in 1975 and were assured there would never be anything on the 2.16-acre lot where the house is proposed for construction, Marva Benecke said.

"Just looking at it, you would think it is just not that kind of a lot," she said.

Fox agreed and said that if the council were looking at the plans by today's standards, the project wouldn't be built. He indicated that because the tract was approved in the 1970s and designated as lowdensity residential, and because the property was sold as a lot that could be built on, the project should be considered from a '70s perspective.

"If today it came in for subdevelopment, we would not allow it; it would be open space," said John Prescott, community development director.

At the time the tract was built, Cal American Water Company owned the vacant lot and planned to construct a water reservoir on the site. The reservoir was never built, and the property has since been sold.

Former Planning Commissioner Janet Wall said the style, mass, height and bulk aren't compatible with the neighborhood, which has no other structures with towers or roofs 35 feet above the sidewalk.

The three-bedroom house is designed to be a 4,000squarefoot, two-story split level, with a garage and basement area making a third level.

"Have the house redesigned to integrate better into its environment and to avoid the massive number of oak tree encroachments," Wall suggested. "Our codes and ordinances are only as strong as the City Council members who stand behind them."

"The two oak trees that would be removed are . . . in the center of the most logical place to put a home . . . which is, in staff's opinion, in the front of the property," Prescott said.

"I think this needs to be sent back to the planning commission for a redesign," Fox said. "I don't believe that we've heard enough tonight for a denial, and at this point I think it would be difficult to come up with findings, but I do believe the size of the structure is not consistent with the surrounding existing structures."

"I do believe we have findings to deny (the project) without prejudice at this time," Billde la Peña said.

She cited the project not being architecturally consistent with other homes in the area, as well as its size and the grading that would be required on the site.

"I will not support the motion to send this back to the planning commission," Gillette said. "I've heard enough to approve the appeal. . . . The project is incompatible with the proposed site, disruption of neighborhood during construction, slope encroachment, oak tree destruction and the size of the project."

Prescott said his personal preference would be for the council to force those who are building the home to start over so the filing fees they would have to pay would help the city's taxpayers recoup the money the staff is putting into the project.

Gillette expressed regret that the system failed, noting that those who bought the property thought they could build on it, but it is not property that should be built on. He said it should be open space.

Glancy and Irwin, who both are running for reelection, supported Fox's motion to send it back to the planning commission.