Residents Asked To Review, Submit Comments On City’s Draft General Plan

The City of Thousand Oaks draft general plan, meant to guide the community through the year 2045, was presented at the July 11 city council meeting. This draft general plan, expected to be adopted this fall, concludes a four-year comprehensive update of the original general plan from 1970.

A general plan details the “future intended use of every parcel in the City,” according to the report. The state requires eight considerations to be incorporated with a particular community’s vision: land use, circulation, housing, open space, conservation, noise, safety, and environmental justice.

The final phase of the process is public review and comment via a dedicated web page, www.toaks2045.org. On the site, the City says, “The Plan sets forth a comprehensive set of goals, policies, and actions around land use, mobility, environmental justice, conservation, and more.” The portal for community comments closes in mid-September. An individual may submit more than one comment.

Implementation Strategies

1. Maintain the “ring of green” open space at the outer edges of the City to provide a physical separation from adjacent communities, beautiful vistas, and a connection with nature.
2. Preserve and expand the existing urban forest, especially oak trees, through tree preservation and the significant addition of new trees.
3. Enhance visual gateways to the City with iconic architecture, open spaces, and monument signs.
4. Expand the existing network of parks and trails so that all residents are within a short walk of a park, trail, or other open space.
5. Preserve and enhance single-family and multifamily neighborhoods as low-scale, family-friendly, and safe places to live. Recognize that the majority of residential neighborhoods will experience minimal change over the time horizon of the General Plan.
6. Create a new “downtown core” for the City near the Civic Arts Plaza.
7. Revitalize underutilized land and opportunity areas (including the malls, older shopping centers, and Thousand Oaks Boulevard) with a diverse mix of uses, including residential.
8. Expand the number and types of entertainment options.
9. Create “village centers” throughout the community that provide retail and services, gathering places, and multifamily housing.
10. Expand the number and diversity of jobs in biotech, healthcare, and education, and attract new jobs and businesses to the City to create a balanced and economically resilient economy.
11. Continue to engage California Lutheran University and Los Robles Regional Medical Center as community stakeholders.
12. Create a diversity of housing types and affordability levels, including mixed-use and multifamily development.
13. Establish the human-scaled network of complete streets that includes enhanced bicycle, pedestrian, and transit networks.
14. Expand the high-quality, diversity, and accessibility of public facilities and services, focusing on youth, seniors, and residents with special needs.
15. Take steps to protect the City against future natural or human-caused disasters, including earthquakes and wildfires, and develop resilience plans to respond to such events.
16. Meet or exceed State-established targets for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, energy use, water use, and recycling.
17. Maintain long-term fiscal sustainability by increasing revenues through land use and other policy changes.