Leading the way for Open Space

By Dan Del Campo

The 14,000 acres of open space in the Conejo have been the envy other cities statewide. Thousand Oaks is recognized as a leader in open space preservation. Thousand Oaks has preserved more than a third of its 56 square miles as open space. Our quality of life has evolved around and in open space.

Earlier this year I worked on the Western Plateau Preservation Plan (WPPP) for the acquisition of the Western Plateau. This is a land mass of 180 acres under private ownership that had development rights. In order to acquire the Western Plateau a multi agency / multi developer agreement was implemented. This agreement allowed for some reorganization of housing units in Dos Vientos and transferred other units to publicly owned surplus property. Through this WPPP agreement the City was able to acquire and preserve the 180 acres of the Western Plateau at no cost to the taxpayers. Noteworthy is that the property owner was not a willing seller and the City did not have the revenue to purchase the property and development rights at fair market value.

In addition to the open space other community benefits were included in the WPPP agreement. We able to secure space for a new middle school, an expanded YMCA plan, $2.3 million in funding for a public equestrian center, and construction of 140 senior housing units in a more suitable location. Once again this came at no cost to the taxpayers.

Only through these cooperative agreements with developers and public agencies has Thousand Oaks been able to secure a large inventory of public land. It is my philosophy that we continue to explore with other private property owners those parcels that will complete the ring of open space. During the last four years we established an Open Space Endowment Fund. The fund now has a corpus of $2.5 million with a goal of $10 million. Interest generated will provide the revenue needed to acquire these parcels.

For more information about open space, go to: http://www.dandelcampo.com