Conservancy grant enough to complete Sapwi Trails in Thousand Oaks

CRPD project to receive $1.67M

Source of this article, the Thousand Oaks Acorn, June 29, 2017

The only community park in Thousand Oaks’ master plan that remains undeveloped is one step closer to breaking ground.

The advisory committee for the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy has approved a $1.67-million grant for Conejo Recreation and Park District to complete Sapwi Trails Community Park in the Lang Ranch area of the city.

The committee’s June 26 vote put the last piece of the funding puzzle in place for the $7-million project. The grant’s approval means the park can be built all at once instead of in phases.

The SMMC grant will be provided out of Proposition 1 money. Prop. 1 was a 2014 voter approved water bond measure that made about $1.5 billion available for grants for watershed protection.

CRPD parks and planning administrator Tom Hare said Lang Ranch Creek runs through the northern portion of the park and the project includes plans to restore the creek and promote watershed health.

“The project as proposed is a great example of what the Prop. 1 grant is all about,” he said.

The approximately 144-acre park—bordered on the west by Erbes Road, on the north by Avenida de Los Arboles and on the east by Westlake Boulevard— will largely remain in its natural state, but some infrastructure, including parking lots, restrooms, shade structures, picnic tables and a playground will be built on park grounds. Additional capital improvements will include a pedestrian path along the length of the park on Westlake Boulevard, four bridges that cross Lang Creek and some storm water containment projects.

The SMMC grant isn’t the first big boost the Sapwi Trails project has received. The Thousand Oaks City Council voted at its April 11 meeting to kick in $2.5 million from its general fund reserves toward the project, a first-of-its-kind recreation area for the park district.

Construction is expected to start in the summer, and CRPD expects the entire project to be finished by winter 2019.

“We’re ready to roll, Construction drawings are almost done,” Hare said. “We’re out to bid next month.”