Disney Character Display House in Simi Valley Has Retired

Every year we cover unique, bright and/or particularly entertaining residential holiday displays. See the current year list at THIS LINK.

One such home has been the fun Disney character display at the corner of Timberlane Ave and Fearing St in Simi Valley. It’s a bit out of the way to get to for Conejo Valley residents, but as you can see from the photos before, it has been worth it.

This year, there’s a sign up on the side of the home that reads “The Disney House Has Retired - Thanks for the Memories.” Sad to see it go after all these years, but it is understandable, as it must have been quite a bit of work over the years. Thank you and all local area residents that go the extra mile to make their residences extra fun for the winter holiday season.

Side view of home at Timberlane and fearing in prior years.

Sign up at home in 2023 Christmas Season

Front of Disney home in 2022

Side of Disney home in December 2022.

Eight Park Renovations by the Conejo Recreation and Park District in 2023

Conejo Creek North Park (next to the T.O. Library) is the last of eight parks that have gone, or are going through, renovations by the Conejo Recreation and Park District in 2023. The other seven park renovations that have been completed this year are at Newbury Gateway Park, Russell Park, Wildflower Playfield, Dos Vientos Community Park, Banyan Park, Sycamore Neighborhood Park, and Suburbia Park.

More information about 51 parks and other recreational programs overseen by CRPD at crpd.org.

The Los Angeles Rams to Move Practice Facility to Woodland Hills in 2024

Source: Los Angeles Rams

As anticipated, the Los Angeles Rams today announced that they will be moving to their new regular season practice facility in Woodland Hills in 2024. The facility will be located at the corner of West Oxnard Street and Canoga Avenue, part of 100 acres acquired by the owner of the Rams in 2022.

Cal Lutheran has provided temporary practice facilities to the Rams since their move to Los Angeles in 2016. It’s been a great ride hosting the team here in the Conejo Valley for the last seven years.

" Over the next few months, the Rams will set up a facility on this land consisting of modular trailers that will include office space and meeting rooms for coaches, players, scouts and staff, a weight room and training room, locker room, media room, and meal room. Adjacent to the trailers will be two football fields where the team will train and practice.

This is the first step of Kroenke's long-term vision for the land, which is part of the tremendous development envisioned for Woodland Hills under the Warner Center 2035 plan. Once the practice facility is set up, the organization will begin exploring a larger development that will include the permanent headquarters and practice facility for the team, as well as a plan to include residential, commercial, and retail uses along with green spaces and other community-serving amenities."

More information at www.therams.com.

Status of Planned Homewood Suites & Home2 Suites Hotel at Janss Marketplace in Thousand Oaks

This is a rendering of the new hotel that was included in the Planning Commission meeting agenda on October 23rd. This is a view from the courtyard fountain near Buca Di Peppo and Sharky's.

There are plans in the works for a 5-story, 216 room Homewood Suites & Home2 Suites Hotel at Janss Marketplace that will be situated in the space previously occupied by Marshall's (until 2017) and dental offices (until 2019) and currently used for the Reign of Terror Haunted House.

Irvine-based Greens Development will develop and operate the hotel. There will be 173 rooms with king beds and 43 rooms with double-queen beds. Each suite will have a full kitchen. There will be 13,000 sq ft of retail space on the bottom floor. The 2nd floor will have an outdoor pool, deck and planter area.

On October 23rd, city staff and the Planning Commission recommended that the City Council approve a zoning change from 35 feet to 75 feet for the hotel. Several other structures at Janss have received zoning changes in the past, including the former Burlington (44'), Regal Cinemas (40.5') and parking structure (47' 9"). Other tenants at Janss have given a thumbs up for this development.

If the zoning overlay is approved, construction is anticipated to begin next spring with a target opening date of winter 2025. The last new hotel in Thousand Oaks opened in 2009 (Hampton Inn).

View of front of hotel, across from the parking structure in another rendering from developers.

Founder and Director of the Mullin Automotive Museum, Peter Mullin, Passed Away on September 18th

Peter Mullin, businessman, passionate car collector and renowned philanthropist, passed away on Monday, Sept. 18. He was 82. Peter was the founder of Mullin Consulting and the founder and director of the Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard. Peter was also a founding board member and former board chair at the Petersen Automotive Museum. The Mullin Automotive Museum, a crown jewel of Ventura County, will continue to share his passion with the world. The museum is an homage to French culture, automobiles, architecture, visual arts and design, furniture, lighting and sculpture of the Art Deco period that Peter felt was the apex of industrial and fine arts design. The museum is open to the public Fri/Sat from 10am to 3pm. www.mullinautomotivemuseum.com

Grand Opening of Freedom Dog Park in Camarillo on Monday, October 2nd

The new Freedom Dog Park, located at Freedom Park at 275 E. Pleasant Valley Road in Camarillo, will host a grand opening event on Monday, October 2nd from 6-8PM. Located near the Camarillo Airport and Ventura County Animal Services. Great place to bring the pooch at night as they have lights! Open until 9pm. www.pvrpd.org/freedom-dog-park-c1fe3e4

LOCAL AREA DOG PARKS IN AND AROUND VENTURA COUNTY

"The Commons Lane" Proposal Submitted to the City of Calabasas by Caruso in May 2023

View fullsize

Rendering of the proposed “The Commons Lane” renovations proposed by Caruso

In May, Caruso Affiliated submitted its “The Commons Lane” plan to the City of Calabasas to make enhancements to the 25 year old The Commons at Calabasas.

According to information on The Commons Lane website at thecommonslane.com, most of The Commons will remain the same. The plan “will enhance a small portion of the west side of the center” and includes new shops and restaurants with ample space for outdoor dining. The new area will also include pedestrian walking areas and new apartment homes.

The proposal includes up to 119 residential units. Most of the units will replace the Regency movie theater at The Commons. Ten percent of the units will be reserved for residents who meet certain income requirements.

The plan also includes hundreds of new parking spaces and separates residential parking from the surface parking area used by the community.

Timing at this point is to be determined and is contingent on review by the City of Calabasas.

City of Thousand Oaks Concludes Districting Process and Adopts Five-District Map

The Thousand Oaks City Council adopted an ordinance establishing the City’s first City Council district map and district-based elections.

Starting with the November 2024 election cycle, residents of Thousand Oaks will vote for one City Councilmember to represent the district they live in. Districts 4 and 5 are up for election in 2024, and Districts 1, 2, and 3 are up for election in 2026.

On March 15, the City received a letter challenging the City’s at-large election system and asserting that the system violated the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA). The City of Thousand Oaks began the districting process in April 2023 to protect itself from financial and legal risks and hired National Demographics Corporation as the demographers and Tripepi Smith to assist with community outreach efforts.

The City launched the process by creating a dedicated districting website, maptoaks.org, which provided background information about districting, a schedule of upcoming meetings, a form to submit communities of interest, mapping tools, draft maps submitted throughout the process, and answers to frequently asked questions. The website was regularly updated with new and relevant information throughout the process.

To gather public input and feedback on the district formation process, the City of Thousand Oaks held five public hearings and four community workshops:

•     May 9, 2023 - First public hearing

•     May 11, 2023 - Virtual community workshop

•     May 16, 2023 - Second public hearing

•     June 3, 2023 - In-person community workshop

•     June 20, 2023 - Third public hearing

•     June 22, 2023 - Virtual community workshop

•     June 24, 2023 - In-person community workshop

•     July 11, 2023 - Fourth public hearing and first reading of the ordinance

•     July 18, 2023 - Fifth public hearing and second reading of the ordinance

The community workshops gave residents an opportunity to learn more about why the City was pursuing a move to district-based elections and share input on communities of interest, and draft maps once they were available. The City’s demographer also demonstrated how to use the mapping tools made available for the public to create maps.

In addition to community workshops, the City encouraged Thousand Oaks residents to get involved in the process through regular outreach emails, phone calls to community-based organizations, social media posts, flyers, and pop-up events.

At the public hearings, City Council received an overview of the process, reviewed public comments, and examined draft maps submitted by the public and created by the demographer. After extensive public feedback and engagement in the process, the Council selected Map 106 B for adoption at the July 11 City Council meeting. Map 106 B divides the City into five districts and follows the legal criteria set forth in the CVRA.

    District 1 encompasses Newbury Park up to Ventu Park Road and follows the 101 Freeway as the northern border.

    District 2 includes the area surrounding Wildwood Regional Park, California Lutheran University and Los Robles Hospital. The district follows Moorpark Road on the northeast and includes Conejo Creek Equestrian Park. The southern region of the district follows Janss Road, down Lynn Road and goes west along the 101 Freeway.

    District 3 includes the communities east of Moorpark Road and follows Avenida de Las Flores as the southern edge. This district includes Lang Ranch Park and its surrounding open space.

    District 4 includes the Westlake Village area and the eastern side of Newbury Park from Ventu Park Road, containing the surrounding residential and commercial areas.

    District 5 includes the core of Thousand Oaks and takes in the business areas along Moorpark Road and Thousand Oaks Boulevard up to Westlake Boulevard. The western region of the district includes the California Botanical Garden.

For more information regarding the districting process and to see the district in which you reside, visit maptoaks.org.

Cal Lutheran Opens Access to Gallegly Archive at the Pearson Library in Thousand Oaks

(Photo credit: Karen Quincy)

At California Lutheran University, 356 storage boxes, in view behind glass walls, are filled with the archived papers of Ventura County’s longest-serving congressman, Elton W. Gallegly, a member of the House of Representatives from 1987 to 2013. The Gallegly Center Archive and Collection, housed within Cal Lutheran’s Pearson Library, is now open.

The extensive collection includes correspondence, reports, bills, testimonies, voting records, invoices, photographs, newspaper clippings, constituent requests and more from Gallegly’s long career in public service as congressman for three different congressional districts that cover Ventura and Santa Barbara counties and the San Fernando Valley.

Highlights of the archive, donated in 2017, include records related to his work on immigration, European Union expansion, the 9/11 Commission, the Good Friday Agreement, the Clinton impeachment hearings, the U.S. Patriot Act and the fight against cruelty to animals. Of local interest are materials that address his efforts associated with Ventura County child welfare, agriculture, Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) at Naval Base Ventura County, development of the Port of Hueneme, California redistricting, and cleanup at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory.

The collection is generally divided by Gallegly’s three congressional districts, with subcategories for administrative, legislative, constituent, media and voting record files. Access is available by appointment.

To request an appointment, or to explore the archive’s finding aid, visit www.callutheran.edu/centers/gallegly/archive.html. Appointment requests are also available by sending an email to CLUlibrary@callutheran.edu. Note that the Pearson Library will be closed due to renovations through the summer; access to the archives will begin in the fall.