Commentary By William Hicks
I’m a long time resident of Newbury Park that goes back to when Newbury Park was unincorporated. I take interest in the development of Newbury Park specifically as well as Thousand Oaks generally. I was an active community member at the start of City Council Meetings regarding the now beautiful Dos Vientos Community. I am not a NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) resident of Newbury Park.
I just wanted to be able to look across the street from my house and say I still want to live in Newbury Park, and I wasn’t disappointed once the project was approved by the City and developed. There were those who pleaded with The City Council that the land be designated open space until residents of Newbury Park were offered to pay for the going price of the property. There were no takers on that reasonable offer. This was private property that the owner had every right to get the fair market price for what the land was zoned for.
I believe the term “Borchard Wetlands” could reasonably be attributed to County Supervisor, former Thousand Oaks City Council Member, Linda Parks. Supervisor Parks has had a long time concern over this parcel of land. She has had nature walks with those interested in the ultimate use of this particular parcel of private property. On her Facebook page, years ago, she reported that there was an endangered plant specie I’m familiar with from my College Degree in Horticulture. The plant she mentioned, spotted spurge, according to The Federal Department of Agriculture is a common weed found frequently in our gardens.
Once Linda Parks read what I had to say, she took down that article on her Facebook page. If she had used her false information to take the property cheaply for public use, that would have been fraud.
This parcel of land is private property and the owner does have a right to the fair market value just like at the Dos Vientos property. Property that may have been developed as single family dwellings in 1977 but had budgetary constraints that stopped that at the planning level according to the current Mayor of Thousand Oaks at the June 8th, 2021 City Council Meeting.
I agree with City Council Member McNamee that we allow the planning of this property and allow all voices to be heard that affect those nearest to the property called The Borchard Wetlands. There were lots of opportunities for voices to be heard in the planning stages of Dos Vientos, and I expect the same for this parcel of land as well.
William Hicks is a long time resident of Newbury Park, Ventura County CA.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Citizens Journal.
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