{"id":940,"date":"2012-11-08T10:37:08","date_gmt":"2012-11-08T18:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/?p=940"},"modified":"2022-08-03T10:16:32","modified_gmt":"2022-08-03T17:16:32","slug":"north-ranch-residents-upset-with-proposal-to-build-14-luxury-homes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/2012\/11\/08\/north-ranch-residents-upset-with-proposal-to-build-14-luxury-homes\/","title":{"rendered":"North Ranch residents upset with proposal to build 14 luxury homes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Former ranch to be site of gated community<\/strong><\/p>\n

Source of this article: The Thousand Oaks Acorn<\/a>, November 8, 2012<\/p>\n

A 27-acre property once reserved for horses is the center of a dispute between neighbors who want to preserve the open space and developers who plan to build homes there.<\/p>\n

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Courtesy of City of Thousand Oaks<\/p><\/div>The unincorporated land at the northern tip of Upper Ranch Road, known as Miller Ranch, was purchased by Studio City-based KSK Investments about two years ago for $4.4 million. KSK has plans to build a gated community with 14 luxury homes, a proposal that doesn\u2019t sit well with some living nearby.\u201cThis is the last open space corridor in Thousand Oaks,\u201d said Leo Orange, a North Ranch resident who\u2019s gathered more than 200 signatures opposing the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe community\u2019s expectation has always been that Miller Ranch would remain open space. Several of the Upper Ranch Road property owners examined the land-use designation before buying, and the developer now seeks to change those expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The proposal, which was approved by the Thousand Oaks Planning Commission on Sept. 10, will be reviewed by the City Council at its Tues., Nov. 13 meeting, said Pam Leopold, a senior planner with the city.<\/p>\n

Annexation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Plans require that Thousand Oaks annex the parcel, an unincorporated island surrounded by city limits. Such has been the goal of local government for more than 30 years, said Joe Gibson, an environmental consultant for the developer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis area has been in the city\u2019s General Plan since 1970, defined for housing development even though it\u2019s in the county (jurisdiction),\u201d Gibson said. \u201cThe city has always looked at this property for future annexation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even if the council approves the project and its environmental impact report (EIR), which addresses the environmental effects of its construction, the Local Agency Formation Commission must still approve the annexation, Gibson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnnexation could take six to nine months,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Idyllic past<\/strong><\/p>\n

Miller Ranch was formerly owned by Patricia and Martin Miller, who acquired the property in 1966. Patricia Miller was a descendant of Andrew and Abigail Russell, who settled at the 6,000- acre Triunfo Ranch in what is now Westlake Village in 1881.<\/p>\n

The Millers\u2019 niece, Jane Russell Wooster, told the Acorn she supports development of her aunt and uncle\u2019s former ranch.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people who are complaining moved onto land that was undeveloped, just like my aunt\u2019s is now,\u201d said Wooster, who lives in San Lucas, Calif. \u201cAt this point the best use is residential. I don\u2019t think the property should just sit there and not be used.\u201d<\/p>\n

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LAST RANCH IN NORTH RANCH\u2014A view of Miller Ranch, a 27-acre property at the tip of Upper Ranch Road in the North Ranch neighborhood of Thousand Oaks. A proposal to build a 14-home gated community (see map at right) will come before the City Council next week. Neighbors who live near the site want it to remain open space.<\/p><\/div>The property was \u201cbare dirt\u201d when the Millers acquired it, said Wooster, who was a student at UCLA at the time. The Millers built a single-story home, horse stables and outbuildings. The house still exists today (see photo above). Wooster said her aunt loved to ride horses on the property.By January 1973, the City of Thousand Oaks approved the annexation of North Ranch but did not include the Millers\u2019 property. Development of North Ranch began in 1985.<\/p>\n

In a letter provided to the planning commission at its Sept. 10 meeting, Wooster said that Patricia Miller never complained about all the homes that sprung up around the family\u2019s ranch.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople purchased property and built houses and secured for themselves a place to live and enjoy life,\u201d Wooster said. \u201cNot once did my aunt or anyone else in our family say, \u2018Not in our backyard.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

But some residents who live near Miller Ranch are saying just that.<\/p>\n

Neighbors upset<\/strong><\/p>\n

Orange, who has lived on Upper Ranch Road for 19 years, said neighbors decided to buy and build homes in the area because of Miller Ranch\u2019s county open space designation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe (construction) could disrupt our quality of life for seven to 10 years,\u201d said Orange, who added that coyotes, bobcats, deer and mountain lions can be seen on the undisturbed land that stretches over mountains into Simi Valley. \u201cWe have plenty of homes that have been on the market for years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some North Ranch residents have hired a lawyer to represent them in their cause.<\/p>\n

Orange said he and other local residents were interested in purchasing the ranch to ensure it remained open space before it was sold to KSK Investments by the property\u2019s heirs and the company submitted its building plans to the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was shocked that we were never told,\u201d Orange said.<\/p>\n

Neighbor Trudi Loh, who\u2019s lived in the area for 23 years, called the developer\u2019s proposal \u201cabsurd.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think the city should even entertain such a massive change. This doesn\u2019t benefit anyone except private developers,\u201d Loh said.<\/p>\n

In a letter to the City Council, North Ranch residents Ana and Peter Sutton recalled buying and remodeling their dream home there a decade ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe set our goals high in wanting to move to beautiful North Ranch, specifically Upper Ranch Road with its open space, reminding us of how it must have been 100 years ago,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n

Mitigation plans<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lennie Liston, of project developer LC Engineering Group in Thousand Oaks, said his group has met with local residents to address concerns such as dust and noise caused by construction.<\/p>\n

Liston said the project\u2019s infrastructure, which includes major construction grading, will be completed within four to six months to limit disturbances to neighbors.<\/p>\n

While many of the developments in North Ranch are among steep hills, Miller Ranch has lower slopes that will allow for less intrusive grading, Gibson added.<\/p>\n

Also proposed is a landscape buffer of at least 20 feet along the west side of the project, which borders three residences on Upper Ranch Road, a staff report said.<\/p>\n

Over the years, Patricia Miller received many offers for her property, which she declined, Wooster said.<\/p>\n

While Miller enjoyed living in open space, she would have supported the proposal to build homes on her land, her niece said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe wanted to live there until she died, and then she assumed that it would be developed like everything surrounding her,\u201d Wooster said.<\/p>\n

Orange is hoping for a different outcome for the property.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s in the hands of our City Council. We\u2019re hoping that they see it in the community\u2019s favor,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Next week\u2019s meeting begins at 6 p.m. inside council chambers at 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former ranch to be site of gated community Source of this article: The Thousand Oaks Acorn, November 8, 2012 A 27-acre property once reserved for horses is the center of a dispute between neighbors who want to preserve the open space and developers who plan to build homes there. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,35,40,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conejo-valley","category-development","category-history","category-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=940"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/940\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3671,"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/940\/revisions\/3671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}