Thousand Oaks Outdoor Enthusiasts Protest Plan for Road

THOUSAND OAKS — Outdoor enthusiasts are kicking up dust about a plan they say will limit public access to the city’s picturesque hills.

The object of contention is a 22-home project planned near the intersection of Hillcrest Drive and Conejo School Road. The city Planning Commission already has approved most of the project by developer West Pointe Homes, but the builder still needs permission to privatize a stretch of Conejo School Road, an act that would pave the way for a gated community.

If the commission recommends approval Monday and the City Council concurs, West Pointe will install a guardhouse and gate across the road. A wall and larger trees will shield the rest of the property from Hillcrest Drive.

The plan calls for openings on either side for people on foot or horseback, but opponents say that is not enough. They argue the gate will keep hikers, bikers and horseback riders away.

Jeannette Welling, an equestrienne who is planning a petition drive against the gate, said privatizing the road will make it impossible for some people to get to the open space. Many people drive into the hills and hike, bike or ride from there, she said.

“If they put the gate there, there is no place to park,” Welling said. “How are people going to get into the area?”

Gate opponent Gina Smurthwaite said the gate would send the wrong message to the public. “You have a gated community that says ‘stay out’ next to a public open space that says ‘come in,’ ” said Smurthwaite, a horseback rider and president of Equestrian Trails Inc. Corral 37. “It’s incongruous to me.”

Don Schmitz, a representative for West Pointe, declined to comment on the gate issue, but his presentation at Monday’s commission hearing made it clear that West Pointe has no intention of backing off.

“These are knee-jerk reactions,” Schmitz said during the meeting. “This project is not going to preclude recreational activities.”

Technically, the open space that Smurthwaite and others currently use is owned by West Pointe and a few other developers.

But the Conejo School Road trail, which bisects several smaller trails as it crosses the hills toward La Granada Road, is on the city’s Master Plan, and planners required developers to provide public access as a condition of approving the project. The city rejected a request from developers to reroute the trail around the project.

In accordance with city law, developers also will donate about 100 acres of open space to the public after they begin construction. The Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency, the government body that deals with open space, will own much of the donated land.

Agency coordinator Mark Towne said a public trail in a gated community is unusual but not unprecedented. In those cases, he said, the gate has not appeared to discourage use. A gate, for example, is at the northeast corner of Lynn Road and Greenmeadow Avenue.

If the Planning Commission approves the privatization, West Pointe will have to take the issue to the City Council for final approval.