CITY OF T.O. WOULD ANNEX PARCEL FROM MOUNTAINS RECREATION CONSERVATION AUTHORITY—A public hearing hasn’t been scheduled yet for a proposal to develop Rancho Potrero Park. It would include a trail head, restrooms and picnic areas. JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers The city is moving closer to developing the Rancho Potrero park area in Newbury Park on the south side of Lynn Road opposite Via Andrea and Rancho Dos Vientos Drive.

Plans to develop the same area set off a firestorm of resident opposition several years ago when the city proposed a 200-person pavilion and 100-vehicle parking lot. Those living nearby were worried about lights, amplified sound, traffic and other factors.

In consideration of those issues, along with the desire to provide Thousand Oaks residents at large a way to enjoy the open space, a group composed of members of the City Council, Conejo Recreation and Park District and the Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency came up with another plan.

The proposed development would now include a trail head for 30 cars and trailers, restrooms, ride-in corral, landscaped picnic grove, outdoor classroom with benches, picnic tables, a native plant garden, 1.4 miles of new dirt trails and a 60-person shaded picnic structure.

An application by the Community Development Department for the proposed development of the land near Olympia Farms is available for review at the department, 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd.

The date the application will go before the planning commission hasn’t yet been set, but community development director John Prescott said it could be sometime in March.

A conceptual plan has been approved by the National Park Service for changes to the adjacent Rancho Sierra Vista property to provide convenient access to the picnic structure on the Rancho Potrero land next door, a city report said.

The changes include the expansion of an existing parking lot to add 27 spaces for vehicles and the addition of native landscaping surrounding the lot.

Also to be added are gated access to the picnic area, an unpaved maintenance road and a steel bridge to go over a small creek.

An environmental impact report found negative impacts of the proposed project that must be mitigated. They include geological conditions, water quality and aesthetics, according to a city report.

The city’s proposal would accept the EIR and calls for expansion of the area’s boundaries in the Thousand Oaks General Plan to include 156 acres presently owned by the Mountains Recreation Conservation Authority.

The land-use element of the plan would then be amended to apply the “existing parks, golf course and open space” designation to the entire Rancho Potrero property.

The spheres of influence of the city and park district would be expanded to include the 326 acres of Rancho Potrero property with annexation, with 306 acres proposed to be zoned as open space. The 20-acre site the Rancho Potrero Equestrian Center sits on is proposed to be zoned as public lands.

For more information, call Greg Smith at (805) 449-2329.