Filmmakers want new ordinance so they can focus on Thousand Oaks

Councilmember Dennis Gillette stands by his December 1997 decision to require 100 percent consent from the people who live or have businesses within 500 feet of a proposed filming project.

"I think our current system works and works well," Gillette said.

But he was outnumbered by the other four council members who voted to have staff members write a new proposed ordinance and present it at a future City Council public hearing.

"It would be good to have a residents' round table to get some feedback," said Councilmember Claudia Bill-de la Peña.

That idea didn't make the grade with her peers.

When Mayor Tom Glancy asked Councilmember Andy Fox for a historical perspective, Fox explained why the ordinance he once supported should be reviewed more than 10 years later.

"It's an economic issue we need to take a look at when revenues are decreasing," Fox said.

Bill-de la Peña reminded the council that the ordinance requiring 100 percent agreement from those nearby almost cost a Thousand Oaks mobile home park resident the opportunity earlier in 2008 to have the family's home remodeled by "Mobile Home Makeover," a TV show.

There were other close calls where one or two people denied their permission, making it difficult to get movies shot or TV shows produced in Thousand Oaks, until a deal was struck.

The California Film Commission sent a letter to the city complaining that the 100 percent requirement gave power to one person to deny or delay the processing of a permit.

Members from the movie industry said that the 100 percent approval requirement gives too much power to one or two voices who could ask for a "price" to give their consent. The filmmakers suggested the agreement percentage should be lowered to around 80 percent.

Gillette, who's been on the council for more than 20 years, didn't hesitate to explain why the ordinance was intentionally strict.

"There were a series of situations where movie companies came in and did considerable damage to the public infrastructure," Gillette said.

He recalled when movie companies ran rampant in Thousand Oaks. Production assistants made promises to be careful when they filmed and to clean up afterward; then the directors would come in and do whatever they wanted without restrictions, Gillette said.

He remembered specific incidents where damage occurred at California Lutheran University and with Conejo Recreation and Park District.

Gillette said a movie production in Ventura had shut down a street for so long that some of the businesses on the road went bankrupt because shoppers couldn't get to their stores.

Gillette said there was no way to guarantee film companies would clean up and repair property after filming was completed and no "mechanism," such as insurance bonds, would pay for cleanup otherwise.

Before the last ordinance was enacted the council conducted two public hearings. The goal, according to a staff report dated Sept. 23, 1997, was to "discourage filming in residential areas" and to limit the frequency of filming at single locations in residential areas.

In 1997, the city staff also conducted an outreach program that included contact with all homeowners associations, companies that had filmed in the city within the past year and citizens who had expressed concern about filming in neighborhoods.

The expansion of reality shows, which gives residents the opportunity to benefit from improvements or other remuneration for filming at their homes, has meant the city's been getting more requests for filming in residential neighborhoods, said John Prescott, the city's community development director.

Back in 1997, not a week went by without somebody filming in T.O., and often departing without any means for the recovery of expenses.

"The return certainly didn't warrant the costs," Gillette said.