Open Letter to the Thousand Oaks Council – Killing Open Space in Our City

I live in Newbury Park and have seen this “Borchard Wetlands.” Although the Army Corps of Engineers has not designated this area as a “wetland,” there are some serious concerns in any attempt to develop this land. This is not a perpetual wetland; at best it is a wetland when we have a generous rain season. At worse, it’s a place where mosquitoes are a vector of disease. In order for this to even come close to be developed for housing of any sort, diverting that seasonal standing water would be its first challenge; maybe not unsurmountable, but a really big challenge. I’m not an engineer, but my guess is that the same developer who put together The Dos Vientos Project may have some answers. The perennial creek that runs through Dos Vientos/Western Newbury Park was effectively rerouted and possibly the same method could reroute the alleged “Borchard Wetlands” to the Baranca on the North side of Newbury Parl/101 Freeway.  This will not be cheap and adding Sacramento regulations of solar panels on any future housing will assure future projects will NOT be affordable. Maybe our City Council can negotiate a way to get that requirement removed in exchange for actual affordable housing. Then there’s the 4X increase in lumber we’re experiencing that could be reduced by opening up Forestry practices that once were used at the quaint little town of Scotia California.