Thousand Oaks City Council members think Simi Valley will be a better steward of undeveloped land than the county’s been.

The council voted 4-0, with Councilmember Claudia Bill-de la Peña absent, to approve Simi Valley’s request to remove from a greenbelt agreement 228 acres that include the Ronald Reagan Library and Museum and seven adjacent parcels.

Councilmembers Jacqui Irwin and Dennis Gillette said they voted to remove the land from the Tierra Rejada Greenbelt Agreement because Simi Valley will do a better job of protecting the open space than Ventura County, which currently has jurisdiction.

Gillette, noting his involvement in protection of open space in and around T.O. since the early 1960s, said the issue he was voting on was: “What action provides the most protection from out-of-control and any type of additional urbanization in the Tierra Rejada Valley?”

The greenbelt agreement was signed by Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley and the county in 1983. Moorpark joined the agreement after it incorporated in 1984. The cities agreed not to annex the greenbelt so it could remain a buffer of open space. Since that time, however, the county has allowed a paintball business, a driving range, a nursery and other development in the area. Single-family lot sizes are supposed to stay at 20 acres and agriculture in the area is to be preserved.

The driving range “that illuminates that valley like a calliope at night,” Gillette said, never should have happened. “It’s a travesty to the concept of open space, and I thoroughly believe that a municipality, the city of Simi Valley . . . is a better steward.”

“The county has done a poor job. . . . I think Simi Valley would do a better job,” Irwin said.

Simi Valley, which already provides sewage and water services to the area, wants to annex the land.

Moorpark and the county also need to vote to remove it from the greenbelt agreenment before Simi Valley can move forward with annexation.

A 68-acre parcel within the greenbelt remains undeveloped. Save Open space and Agricultural Resources (SOAR) officials said in a report provided to the Thousand Oaks council that they didn’t support Simi’s annexing that parcel, believing it will be better protected if it remains under the stewardship of the county.

Simi Valley City Manager Mike Sedell said the city wouldn’t object if the Local Agency Formation Commission were to remove the parcel from the annexation application.

According to a report by Community Development Director John Prescott, the annexation of the properties by Simi Valley would have no expected financial impact on Thousand Oaks.