City Is Urged to Seek New Sources of Revenue : Thousand Oaks: Report says money from developers will dry up and that income from other avenues will need to be tapped.

After years of surviving on the largess of development, Thousand Oaks should outline new ways to generate money if it hopes to maintain a high quality of life, according to a report presented to the city this week.

The report, forwarded to city planners, outlines goals and guidelines for expanding the business community and luring private investment to the city.

“I don’t want Thousand Oaks to become a megalopolis,” said Mervyn Kopp, a planning commissioner and the report’s author. “I just think we’ve got to sit down and think about these issues before it’s too late.”

Kopp said the city’s General Plan--which provides a blueprint for long-term growth--does nothing to address economic development.

The city has relied on a combination of sales tax and developer fees paid with each new construction project to fund an array of city improvements.

But when builders have filled all of the city’s available land, which is expected in about 10 years, the money from developers will dry up and the city will need new sources of income, Kopp said.

Thousand Oaks leaders from all sides of the long-fought debate over growth agree they need to prepare for a future without development.

“For years, boom has been the word in Thousand Oaks,” Councilwoman Jaime Zukowski said. “Development made this community, and it will be a real challenge to not have that cash pouring in.”

Zukowski said an economic plan for the future must emphasize maintaining Thousand Oaks’ assets, including protected open space, uncluttered ridgelines, low crime and good schools.

“When it comes time to compete with other cities, maintaining the unique quality of life here is the one thing that will set us apart,” she said.

Kopp agreed, but said those factors alone would not ensure the city’s economic stability.

Thousand Oaks, he said, will be competing with neighboring cities to lure enough businesses and jobs to maintain high sales tax revenues. Simi Valley and Camarillo, among others, are launching their own efforts to attract the same types of businesses. In fact, Camarillo is negotiating with Blue Cross to move its offices from the Conejo Valley.

“We live in a very competitive environment, and if the other cities all around us have a plan to lure businesses and jobs, we’re going to lose out,” he said.

City leaders disagree on the methods the city should use to stay competitive.

Judy Lazar, who has long pushed for an economic component to the General Plan, said she did not want to see the city using financial incentives to lure out-of-town business.

“Already we have the amenities which make us a city attractive to business,” Lazar said. “We need to do more to make it simple for businesses to be here.”

That includes streamlining the permitting process, and relieving some of the impositions placed on businesses wishing to remodel, she said.

Others, such as Zukowski and Planning Commissioner Marilyn Carpenter, also stressed the importance of being selective when inviting businesses into the city.

Some businesses may initially appear attractive but might, in the long term, drain more from city coffers than they will contribute in tax dollars, Carpenter said.

That concern, as well as others, will be debated by the city’s General Plan Review Committee, and then by the Planning Commission and City Council, Carpenter said.

“Commissioner Kopp’s proposal is at the beginning of a long process,” she said.

Ultimately, Lazar said, adding an economic section to the General Plan is in the city’s best interest.

In the past, she said, Thousand Oaks has not needed to consider these economic issues. But the city’s financial future is less certain.

“We are at a time where there is a lot of change,” she said. “We’ve never really addressed these issues in writing, and I think it would be wise for us to do so now.”