Agenda Related Items - Meeting of June 24, 2025
Supplemental Packet Date: June 24, 2025
THOUSAND OAKS CITY COUNCIL
Supplemental
Information
Packet
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2:30 p.m.
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From: Rick Lemmo <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2025 11:42 AM
To: David Newman <[email protected]>; Mikey Taylor <[email protected]>; Al Adam <[email protected]>; Bob Engler <[email protected]>; Tie Gutierrez <[email protected]>; Andrew Powers <[email protected]>; Akbar Alikhan <[email protected]>
Subject: Comments on Agenda item 11a-DowntownThousand oaks project (CI 5540 CAUT
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Pl
ease submit for City Council meeting, June 24, 2025.
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Rick Lemmo
Car
uso
101 The Grove Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90036
C 805.469.2255
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TO COUNCIL: 06/24/2025
AGENDA ITEM #: 11A
MEETING DATE: 06/24/2025
1 June 24th, 2025
Thousand Oaks City Council
2100 Thousand Oaks Boulevard
Thousand Oaks, CA
Please include in this evening’s City Council supplemental packet Honorable Mayor, City Council and City Management,
Apologetically, I am unable to attend this evening’s City Council meeting due a previous commitment.
I am writing this evening to share my input on Agenda item 11a-DowntownThousand oaks project (CI 5540 ).
You have the opportunity to continue the optimism, excitement and most importantly the investment on our beloved Thousand Oaks Boulevard and the upgrade of government buildings and the final creation of vibrant public space for all to share. It is truly necessary in a remarkable city like Thousand Oaks.
Tonight you have the opportunity to also reward the extraordinary work of our Deputy City Manager and our entire staff, for a thoughtful and thorough JOB WELL DONE, with extensive and convenient community outreach. This is necessary in myriad ways : taking the right next step to finally gaining our real town center, creating a truly welcoming City Hall & government center, encouraging more affordable housing in center city, developing what is, in effect, and incubation opportunity for small business and start ups and most importantly a place for gathering, entertainment and enjoying our city!
Please approve our Staff’s recommendation to approve the Council’s submitted of this project as a formal application and begin the review/environmental process in preparation for hearings, as early as possible in 2026.
With respect,
Rick Lemmo
Newbury Park, California
2 Name City
Item
#
In favor/
Opposed Comment
Ryan Selvin Thousand Oaks 11A In favor As the General Manager of Selvin Properties and a local resident, I want to express my continued support for the Downtown project. With a portfolio of commercial real estate throughout the Conejo Valley, I believe the on-site amenities planned for this project will be highly attractive to many of our tenants, adding value to the broader business community.
As a new father, I can also envision my family enjoying a safe, vibrant space where we can spend quality time together while engaging with the arts — something that’s currently missing in our community.
From my perspective as a Board member of the Greater Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce, I’ve seen how thoughtfully this redevelopment process has been approached. I appreciate the way the project has evolved based on both community input and current economic realities. It reflects a balance between vision and practicality that will benefit our region for years to come.
Brian Lomonaco Thousand Oaks 11A Opposed Hey all! First and foremost I want to say how much I love Thousand Oaks and the people who live here. This community is such a gem, which is why I am opposed to this project. I think our tax money would be. Ether spent on helping out the already struggling businesses stay afloat rather than create more retail spaces. I am also opposing the lakes parking lot being converted into mixed use housing/retail as this would cause the cost of living to increase in the area as well as further congest the roads. This stretch of TO blvd is one of the last bastions of uncongested commuting. Furthermore, the plan to replace the Lassens with an Erewon is also not a great idea as I do not feel we have the demographic or household income for a grocery store this expensive. It will also attract more outsiders, thus further congesting the roads. The Ranch development will create a lot more housing and congestion as it is. Do we need MORE? We have the Santal and 1710 on the Blvd. Both have residential units and commercial space. I’ve heard the local youth would like a bowling alley.
We have that empty lot on TO blvd just west of the 23. How about a community center with bowling alley and shops there? Perhaps an outdoor space for the locals? Thank you for taking the time to read my comment. Again, I want to express how much my partner and I LOVE Thousand Oaks. We feel so very ortectful of this space. Please don’t LA our TO!
Rondi Guthrie 11A In favor June 24, 2025
Thousand Oaks City Council
2100 Thousand Oaks Blvd
Thousand Oaks, CA 91362
Dear Mayor Newman and Councilmembers,
On behalf of Athens Services and my role as the current Chair of the Board for the Greater Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce, I want to express our continued support for the updated Downtown project design and thoughtful approach throughout this process. We have heard from Akbar at our Chamber Board meetings and our Legislative Roundtable multiple times—including again this morning—demonstrating a strong commitment to transparency and ongoing dialogue with the business community. I also had the opportunity to personally participate in the landscape design session, where I saw firsthand how feedback from local businesses and residents has meaningfully shaped this project. We also appreciate the City’s careful and transparent exploration of various financing strategies, and balancing innovation with fiscal responsibility to bring this community-driven vision to life. As a growing company with over 100 employees at our new Operations and Sustainability Center here in Newbury Park, we are very excited about having a Downtown where we work.
It’s clear the City has gone above and beyond to ensure this project reflects the values, needs, and aspirations of the community.
Sincerely,
Rondi Guthrie
Vice President of Government Affairs
Athens Services
TO COUNCIL: 06/24/2025
MEETING DATE: 06/24/2025
3 Name City
Item
#
In favor/
Opposed Comment
Jack Bernard Newbury Park 11A In favor Dear Council, Staff and others who may read this comment, My name is Jack Bernard and I am a 20 y/o resident of Newbury Park who has grown up and thrived in Thousand Oaks my entire life. While I make this comment on behalf of myself, and my opinions here do not represent any other groups, I am apart of Ventura County YIMBY, the local advocacy group that fights for affordable, abundant housing in Ventura County, and supports the development of walkable, sustainable communities. I would like to offer my appreciation to Akbar Alikhan for engaging VCYIMBY as well as many other community interest groups in every step of the project’s proposal process, and for continuing to be open to community feedback and concerns as the project progresses. I am in full support of the Downtown project as it is proposed and am beyond excited to see a sense of place finally come to Thousand Oaks. From my experience growing up here, I would place money on the majority of high school students claiming that “there is nothing to do in Thousand Oaks” when asked. I believe this downtown project has major potential to change that if executed correctly, with subsequent downtown core development to follow. A critical aspect of this project’s success will be the construction of many mixed-use, dense housing developments as are currently planned. I would encourage council to ensure these housing developments remain in the project, and push for further residential development on the campus if possible. Mixed use development is the key to making the downtown campus a place people want to live in, making the environment lively and exciting while also inviting commerce through proximity. More housing stock is desperately needed in the region and is one of the most critical components to solving our current climate emergency, and ensuring equity. Regarding this meeting’s items on the plan, I would like to support the implementation of a TIF / EIFD to finance the project. Assuming that necessary financial modeling and safety nets have been studied, TIF’s have been successful for other major capital projects in neighboring regions and are a clever financing solution for public urban development projects like this one. I would also encourage council to prioritize active transportation in this development and do everything in the city’s power to ensure car-free travel is encouraged throughout this project. Currently there are no plans for a major bus stop / other mobility connection. I would like to ask council to push for a well-designed, thoughtfully placed transportation hub within the project to encourage transit ridership and other forms of active mobility. In my mind, this hub would constitute a modern and amenity rich bus stop that offers meaningful connections to the wider transportation network; a locked bike storage area with outlets to charge batteries, and tools to repair bicycles; and large, greenery lined sidewalks that span not only within but beyond the project to enable walkability. Looking toward the future, American society at large needs to rapidly move from car- centric planning and transportation practices, and increased transit ridership is critical to meet VMT reduction goals set forth by the State of California. In addition to the placement and priority on a bus stop in this project, I would also like to encourage council to consider engaging in transportation planning studies and evaluations right now to consider how we can best serve the future downtown core using public transportation, and to collaborate with the County on how their routes can/should be adjusted given the projected housing and commercial developments along Thousand Oaks Blvd. Thank you for your continued engagement on this project, and your constant desire to make the city better for all! -Jack Bernard
Thousand Oaks 11A In favor Question: What would make people want to shop in the new Thousand Oaks Downtown? Answer: Because there they can find shops that are EXCLUSIVE to that location! In other words, unique one-of-a-kind businesses that have no branches anywhere else.
The Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica used to have shops like that. But as soon as big chain store businesses came in, it marked the beginning of the end for the Promenade. It has never recovered.
Let Thousand Oaks take note of that lesson. Why would someone go to the new downtown to shop in a chain store if they can more easily go to Newbury Park, Simi, Westlake or elsewhere that may have bigger stores, more parking, and fewer crowds? Because they want to explore something they can't get anywhere else!
Thank you
4 Name City
Item
#
In favor/
Opposed Comment
Marc A.A. Newbury Park 11A N/A 6/24/2025
Hello City Council,
I want to start by saying the ambitious idea of revitalizing Thousand Oaks Blvd as a center entertainment hub for the community is great. However, I am worried it will end up being a fail-project like The Lakes. Although The Lakes is a beautiful area to visit, it has failed to be beneficial to the community. From having 7 out 12 vacant storefronts for years to failing to receive any money from Caruso real estate to extending the purchase date for the property they want to build housing on. One must question why businesses do not want to establish themselves in at The Lakes. Is it the lack of foot traffic, the market- rate rent or a combination of both? Maybe the city should acquire The Lakes for free since they have not given the city a single cent and we can integrate it with the Downtown Thousand Oaks Project.
With that being said, I like what is being suggested in the Master Plan. But for the financing, may I suggest getting those funds by taxing the largest corporations in the area. Amgen had a net income of $4.09 billion for 2024 and Teledyne Technologies had a net income of $819 million for 2024. Even if we solely tax 1%, we can receive $40.9 million and $8.19 million, respectively. We all know that Amgen is not going anywhere with how much they have invested in their Thousand Oaks facility. An additional source would be taxing residents who make more than a million in a year or a different amount that is more reasonable to the area. Our working-class does not need more financial burdens.
Additionally, I would also like to suggest the apartments to be social housing apartments. I believe if the city were in control of the housing units, the community would be able to receive truly affordable housing. The residents would pay off the construction and maintenance over a set year life span through the controlled rent. This would also allow the city to offer more jobs to the community for maintaining these social housing units. There are many working-class people that just want a living space close to their job site and I know many people who commute an hour to 2 hours in order to get their job.
The shops can be commercial units and can pay market-rate rents because together with the social housing, they would bounce off each other financially.
Those shops will be most inclined to be shopped at by the residents living above due to the amount of savings they will be receiving. If this is successful, use this style of building for the rest of the city to help aid the housing crisis the city faces.
Lastly, I want to apologize for not being able to come out to the meeting in person or through Zoom. I have obligations that interfere with the allotted time for the meeting.
Thank you for reading.
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