CONCERN OVER ENDANGERD PLANT ALTERNATE SITE PROPOSED FOR LANG RANCH DAM PROJECT.

Byline: Cecilia Chan Staff Writer

THOUSAND OAKS - Bolstered by the find of an endangered plant she hopes will uproot a 11.5-acre dam proposal, Councilwoman Linda Parks says she has found an alternative site for the project.

The councilwoman has been hiking the property around the proposed Lang Ranch retention basin, looking for new sites since the finding earlier this week of the milkvetch that could require new reviews of the project.

``There's a large field just west of the dam site that isn't in an ancient oak grove and there're no archaeological sites and endangered plants,'' Parks said Thursday. ``It's much better environmentally and there's no viewshed impact either.''

The court-ordered $4.9 million Lang Ranch project calls for a 1,200-foot-long detention basin and a 3.3-acre debris basin in the northeast section of the city to catch runoff from a 2,257-home development under construction.

Parks, Lang Ranch homeowners and environmentalists oppose the dam because they say it would destroy 47 oak trees and lower property values.

Parks said the environmental impact report for the project looked at alternative sites east of the Eaves Road pumping station, but not at the area she is considering.

``I am looking farther east,'' she said. ``I don't think this location was reviewed.''

City Planning Division Manager John Prescott said the city looked at alternative sites downstream of the chosen site during the EIR process, and was unable to say for sure if location Parks is suggesting was reviewed.

Prescott said it would be up to county flood control - which is designing and building the structure - to consider the new site.

``We addressed a number of alternatives where the dam could possibly be placed and the impacts to those areas,'' said Hugh Clabaugh, acting county deputy director of public works. ``And this (current proposed site) was the most desirable and least impact to the area that the dam could be put in.

``Unless (Parks) had a biological assessment . . . and had experts tell her it's a better site, she just can't go out there and say it's a good site,'' Clabaugh said. ``There are a lot of impacts she may not realize.''

Just days after Parks discovered half a dozen Braunton's milkvetch in the footprint of the proposed dam's wall, she scouted and found the new site Wednesday. Parks said she was assured by an environmental specialist and construction engineers who accompanied her that the new site would work.

``What I am going to do is turn it over to the experts and let them look at the topographical map and look at the feasibility,'' Parks said.

Parks said she was working with experts who would produce a document on the site's suitability to be forwarded to county flood control and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, one of various permitting agencies involved with the project. She anticipated the report would be finished in early February.

``There is a better alternative that is not going to impact as much of the creek and save the habitat,'' Parks said. ``The Army Corps is charged with having to have the least environmentally damaging alternative. If there is a less damaging one, they have to, by law, support it.''

A county official at one time said pursuing an alternative while the project is in the permitting process - as it now is - could increase the construction costs by at least $1.5 million and other costs to $750,000.

However, Parks said it's a good time to go with the alternative site because the park district is also looking at a project of hiking and equestrian trails in the same area.

``The two projects can be built simultaneously and turn out to be a far superior project,'' she said. ``It all points to a financial savings because the projects are done together.''

Parks said the alternative site could be covered in a supplemental EIR that will now have to be produced because of the discovery of the milkvetch.

However, that has not been determined by the lead agency on the project - but while the county is looking into the finding of the endangered species, neither the city nor the county say they are the lead agency on the project.

Parks said the alternative should be considered ``before they waste more money trying to make this thing fit in an environment that in the end won't fit in.''

``I am very confident that we have a superior project that can meet the needs of flood control and that gets me pretty excited.''

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Photo: (color) Linda Parks shows an endangered plant which she found while surveying the site proposed for Lang Ranch dam project.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News