T.O. EASES RIDGELINE ORDINANCE : DEVELOPMENT RESTRICTIONS AMENDED.

Byline: Enrique Rivero Daily News Staff Writer

Making it easier for property owners to develop land near hilltops, the City Council has added a ``relief valve'' to its tough ridgeline protection ordinance allowing the city to consider deviations on a case-by-case basis.

The council's unanimous decision Tuesday to amend the Protected Ridgeline Overlay Zone ordinance gives the city flexibility in letting landowners develop their land yet allows the city to retain the power to protect the ridgelines, Mayor Andrew Fox said.

``The council made the statement that it will not apply unreasonable restrictions on private property owners and deny them reasonable use of their property,'' Fox said. ``This will add to the city's resources to protect our ridgelines, but we're not going to get carried away with it and start devaluing people's property for no good reason.''

Under the amendment, any special use permit application for deviations from the ordinance would have to be reviewed by the Planning Commission and the City Council.

Up to now, the ordinance has severely restricted development in protected zones by, among other things, limiting the size of residences to a maximum of 2,000 square feet and a height of 17 feet; prohibiting buildings from silhouetting against the skyline above the ridgeline as viewed from roadways; and forbidding any grading to create a building pad that would alter the natural contours of the land.

``So (the change) makes it more flexible,'' said assistant planner Haider Alawami. ``The way it's written now, that's it - you can't do anything else.''

Many parcels now lying within the protected zone have been approved for residential lots, yet each is different and some could accommodate plans that deviate from the protection ordinance, according to Fox.

``These properties are not the same - this is not an instance where the one size fits all,'' Fox said.

In a related vote, the council unanimously rejected a proposal to apply its tough ridgeline protection ordinance to property owned by La Reina High School and California Lutheran University.

Slapping the ordinance onto the land would have been redundant because their current zoning already requires public hearings and careful evaluation of the city's tough ridgeline and hillside policies.

``Because there's an existing process, there's no reason to add another layer to it,'' Alawami said.

The council vote goes against a Jan. 22 Planning Commission recommendation to apply the ordinance to the La Reina land. The commission had deadlocked on applying it to the California Lutheran property because commissioner Marilyn Carpenter, who works for the university, abstained from voting.

COUNCIL ACTION AT A GLANCE

The Thousand Oaks City Council took the following action Tuesday night:

COUNCIL PAY - Voted unanimously to increase City Council members' monthly pay to $1,026 from $765, with the raise effective after the new council is installed following the Nov. 5 City Council election.

RIDGELINES - Voted unanimously to give more flexibility to the city's ridgeline protection ordinance - which limits building size, grading and other development in protected zones - by establishing a ``relief valve'' process allowing the Planning Commission and the City Council to approve special use permits in those zones on a case-by-case basis. Also unanimously rejected a proposal to apply the Protected Ridgeline Overlay Zone to property owned by the Sisters of Notre Dame and California Lutheran University.

DISABLED ACCESS - Voted 3-1, with Councilwoman Judy Lazar dissenting, to deny Kmart's request for an Unreasonable Hardship exemption from putting disabled parking spaces near the main entrance to the store, and approve the existing disabled parking in the northwest quadrant of the parking lot.

CHURCH DRIVEWAY - Voted unanimously to allow St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church to put a driveway through city-owned open space land as part of the church's construction of a new parish center. The church, in turn, must dedicate as open space an area of land equal to the size of the proposed 4,850-square-foot driveway.

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Box: COUNCIL ACTION AT A GLANCE (see text)