Council to Let Parks Vote on Planning Issues

THOUSAND OAKS —  Overruling a recommendation by the city attorney, who was concerned about the potential for costly lawsuits, the Thousand Oaks City Council has decided that Councilwoman Linda Parks can vote on issues that came before her when she was a member of the city’s Planning Commission.

City Atty. Mark Sellers recently notified Parks, who was elected to the council last month, that she should not vote on certain issues that she voted on as a commissioner, arguing that some development applicants could consider that a violation of their due process rights.

Sellers did not cite any case law to bolster his opinion, but mentioned that Thousand Oaks recently lost a legal battle to the Cohan family, whose plans for a residential-commercial development in Newbury Park were rejected by the City Council.

Earlier this year, the city agreed to allow the Cohans to build their development as part of a settlement to avoid the possibility of a multimillion-dollar civil court ruling.

Parks argued that she had talked to other lawyers who said Sellers’ assessment was overly conservative. She also pointed out that previous planning commissioners have moved to the City Council without having to excuse themselves from votes.

And Parks said she received numerous calls from residents and business owners who were concerned that they voted for Parks to represent their viewpoint, only to see her have to sit out of some key decisions.

Because the council was set to discuss an appeal of a Planning Commission decision Tuesday, council members had to decide the issue, and they voted 4 to 0 to allow Parks to take part.

Mayor Judy Lazar abstained from the vote, saying it was solely up to Parks.