Hillcrest Residents!

Hydam has formally withdrawn the applications associated with the proposed Assisted Living Business.

The project notification sign will be removed in the near future.

Download the Hydam withdraw Letter sent to the City of Thousand Oaks (PDF 45 KB)

It has been one year now since the official public notification letters and public hearing since were posted. It was the end of April 2013 that the Hillcrest Drive Community was made aware of the proposed developers plans.

Read the Acorn Article

Download the Hydam Letter the Acorn article refers to (PDF 1.09 MB)

Here is a letter that Hydam Group Inc, Mohammed Esa, sent to the City of Thousand Oaks Planning Department on 3.05.13, regarding his proposed Hillcrest Assisted Living Facility.

Excerpt from letter:

Download the Hydam Letter the Acorn article refers to (PDF 1.09 MB)

This is NOT the proposed Hydam Development.

**Possible alternative Assisted Living Business and location (250 McCloud Ave Thousand Oaks)**

This is NOT the proposed Hydam Development for Hillcrest Drive, this a different developers proposed Assisted Living Business, for a parcel of land on McCloud Ave.  After reviewing the initial provided information, this proposed site location for this developer Assisted Living Business seems to be a better fit.   

Read the Acorn Article

The location of this Assisted Living Business is near the Thousand Oaks Mall for shopping, entertainment, and restaurants.  The Sprouts market would be within walking distance.  The fire station is proximity two blocks away from proposed site also.  The proposed location is in an area that has high density residential. 

The new plans for the Assisted Living Business call for 96 rooms in lieu of 125 rooms, but the occupancy load (number of residents that this facility will accommodate.) went from 125 to 126. So less rooms, but 1 additional occupant by doubling occupants up in some rooms.

The developer would also be digging back into the hillside another 40 feet or so further back than their existing back slope resulting in another 20,800+/- cubic yards of dirt they will have to export from the site. There will be a more complete comparison evaluation in the next few days as time allows. When the comparison is completed, it will distributed around the community and posted on this website.

The Assisted Living Business project has been resubmitted to the City of Thousand Oaks. The developer Hydam has decided to continue with the process of building the Assisted Living Business in a residential neighborhood. The resubmitted project can be viewed by visiting the City of Thousand Oaks planning department and asking to view the file for SUP 2012-70516.

To the Hillcrest Drive community’s knowledge, the City of Thousand Oaks has not yet received any resubmitted plans from Hydam.

The property that  Many  Mansions was  going to develop on Hillcrest Drive was sold to Hydam Enterprise, which is the same owner as the large property across the street that is proposed to be a senior assisted living business. These two properties together comprise a tremendous amount of land between Conejo School and Erbes Road and we need to be diligent in an effort to retain our current zoning status.

THE FACTS:

PROPERTY #1: 2080 East Hilcrest Drive. South side of Hillcrest just East of Glenwood Place and West of Makenzie Court.

- Currently zoned for 7- 9 single family homes.
- It has been reported that Hydam Properties intends to submit plans that meet the current zoning. We will keep you posted as to the status of this project.

PROPERTY #2: on the North side of Hillcrest Drive between Lone Oak Drive and Conejo School Road.

- The property is zoned for 7 single family homes.

- Plans previously submitted by owner/developer Hydam are fully approved by the City of Thousand
Oaks for 7 single family homes.

- Hydam had submitted a request to change the current zoning and build a three story 125 unit commercial Assisted Living business with an underground parking structure.

- In anticipation of community objection, Hydam has now withdrawn the above mentioned plans for the 125 unit Assisted Living business and is re-working plans. It has been reported that Hydam will now propose an assisted living business that has 96 units in three separate two-story buildings with underground parking structures.  This would equate to three commercial buildings that are the height of a three-story structure.

- This plan would still require the city to change the zoning from single family homes to commercial development.

- SO FAR, NONE OF THE MENTIONED ZONE CHANGES OR PLANS HAVE BEEN APPROVED. WE NEED TO PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THIS ISSUE IN ORDER TO PRESERVE OUR CURRENT SINGLE FAMILY HOME ZONING.

Hydam developers have offered money to area residents in exchange for their support of a zoning change. So far no one has received these promises in writing. So BEWARE, as the developer has a documented history of not following through on its promises. Please report any offers you may receive from the developer to the Hillcrest Residence Community.

Beware of Mohammed Esa a wolf in sheep’s clothing” there is no need/or desire to cut any deal when we stand firm with the current single family zoning at 2080 Hillcrest and the parcel at the corner of Lone Oak and Hillcrest.

The Thousand Oaks City Council had some great comments regarding the now approved Miller Ranch housing development on Kanan Road.  The councils comments reflected and how the developer, community, and city worked together to reach a mutually accepted agreement.  Of the comments, the Hillcrest Drive Community enjoyed hearing that the neighborhood community surrounding a project does have a part in determining what the remaining undeveloped parcels of land in the area will become.

The Hillcrest Drive Community is ready and willing to work with the Hydam developer to build homes on the two Hillcrest Drive parcels of land.

2080 East Hillcrest drive has sold to "Hydam" (Mohammed Esa). This is the property the Many Mansions wanted to build on. Hydam now owns both parcels of land. The Hillcrest residence community stance is "No Zoning Changes"

According to City employee Matt Chang, the assisted living project has been put on hold per instructions from Hydam. Matt Chang is no longer spending time on the project and has no idea when he will hear from Hydam and what their next step will be.

The release of the MND Report for public review is on hold. The developer is supposedly adjusting the scope of the development. If the developer can scale down the project to the original approved homes, the Hillcrest Drive Community would support the project.

The November 4th Planning Commission Meeting has been canceled.

Read the Ac orn Letter

The City of Thousand Oaks had a Council Meeting on 10.22.13. This city meeting was NOT the hearing regarding any specific proposed development on East Hillcrest Drive.

The Hillcrest Drive Residence Community decided to have several members attend the meeting. Members that attended took the opportunity to speak about the concerns of the proposed Hydam development for East Hillcrest Drive.

To review this portion of the meeting please access the below link and navigate the timeline to 00:35:40. 

TOTV City Council Meeting 10.22.13- Video (Navigate to 00:35:40 on the timeline)

The City of Thousand Oaks had a Planning Commission Meeting on 10.21.13. This city meeting was NOT the hearing regarding any specific proposed development on East Hillcrest Drive.

During the public comments portion of the meeting, opposition members made the Planning Commission aware of the Hillcrest neighborhood communities disapproval to the proposed zone change.

To review this portion of the meeting, please access the below link and navigate the timeline to 00:06:40

TOTV City Council Meeting 10.21.13- Video (Navigate to 00:06:40 on the timeline)

Units: 122
122 units and 164 beds.

Size:
Three stories in height
Height above Hillcrest on the West side 52 feet
Height above Hillcrest in the middle 52 feet 8 inches
Height above Hillcrest on the East side 44 feet 8 inches

Length:
540 feet in length.

Area:
97,705 square feet

Parking:
47 spaces

Residence:
Approximately 164 people.

Details on Height:
The height of the proposed building above Hillcrest Drive on the West 1/3 end of the building is 52 feet

The height of the proposed building above Hillcrest Drive in the middle of the building is 52 feet 8 inches

The height of the proposed building above Hillcrest Drive on the east 1/3 end of the building is 44 feet 8 inches

The City of Thousand Oaks had a Council Meeting on 10.08.13. This city meeting was NOT the hearing regarding any specific proposed development on East Hillcrest Drive.

During the public comments portion of the meeting, an opposition member made the City Council aware that the name of the application for the Assisted Living Business “Hydam Enterprise LLC “ is not the name of the current active Hydam entity.

Another opposition member spoke on why the proposed site is not the correct location for the project.

To review this portion of the meeting please access the below link and navigate the timeline to 00:42:15. 

TOTV City Council Meeting 10.08.13- Video (Navigate to 00:42:15 on the timeline)

Read the Acorn Letter

The upcoming Planning Commission meeting scheduled for Monday 10.07.13 has been (Cancelled). The upcoming Council meeting on Tuesday 10.08.13 at 6:00 PM is still a go.

The “Save our Community, STOP HIGH DENSITY Zoning Changes on the Hillcrest Corridor” signs and banners have arrived.   If you would like to acquire a free sign for your yard, fence,etc, Please select the below hyperlink.

Click on this link to Acquire A Free Yard Sign

Did you know only 4 percent (4%) of people 65 or older will need Assisted Living. Yep only 4 percent.
Did you know that people at the beginning and end of their life are the happiest.
Do you know older people have lower rates of depression.
Did you know .....

These are the findings of Ageism expert Ashton Applewhite author of "This Chair Rocks" website. Ashton Applewhite will be speaking at California Lutheran University (CLU) on 10.1.13 on "How Ageism Warps Our View of Long Life" The lecture is free, No RSVP required. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Seats available until filled.

Please click this link for more details on the upcoming CLU lecture

View a short 2:30 Video of Ashton Applewhite speaking on Ageism by clicking on the below image or below link

Video Link

Visit Ashton Applewhite's "This Chair Rocks" Website

Several opposition members met with an land use attorney, regarding the proposed development. To find out additional information and to get legally involved, please reach out to Roy Brasher.

Roy Brasher

The upcoming Planning Commission meeting scheduled for Monday 9.23.13 has been (Cancelled). The upcoming Council meeting on Tuesday 9.24.13 at 6:00 PM is still a go.

Over 50 neighbors attended. This is just the first step in building a powerful coalition to take back control of our neighborhood and our city.

To get involved please visit our contact page

This map shows the location of the high density affordable housing unit locations. Please do not confuse what entities own what complex.

Clustering Map (PDF 17.1 MB)

Read the Acorn Letter

Read the Acorn Letter

The City of Thousand Oaks had a Planning Commission meeting on 7.22.13. This city meeting was NOT the hearing regarding any specific proposed development on East Hillcrest Drive.

One of agenda items for the meeting was to review the “General Plan Housing Element Update”  The Housing Element contains information and policies pertaining to the housing needs, resources and constraints through 2021, including programs for meeting housing needs for people of all income levels and persons with disabilities.  The Hillcrest Drive Residence Community decided to have several members attend the meeting.  Five of the members that attended the meeting took the opportunity to speak about the concerns of residence around East Hillcrest Drive.  

To review the Housing Element portion of the meeting please access the below link and navigate the timeline to 3:24:00.  Please also take the time to hear the Planning Commissions comments after the five Hillcrest Community Residences at 3:44:00.

TOTV Planning Commission Meeting 7.22.13- Video (Navigate to 3:24:00 on the timeline)

Click here to download the 2014-2021 Final Housing Element Update (PDF Download 7.34 MB)

There are several accessibility issues at the Fiore Gardens, a Family Low-Rent Public Housing complex, on Hillcrest Drive. The sidewalk has accessibility issues due to the fact that tree growth is not being addressed. The sidewalk condition problems are amplified at night when it is more difficult to see. If the City is having difficulty in taking care of the sidewalks around this complex, citizens of Thousand Oak should not support any of the proposed similar development complexes that would be for "senior citizens" on East Hillcrest Drive.  The sidewalk conditions around the proposed development have similar issues with the addition of various obstructions such as telephone poles.  These conditions are deplorable for senior citizens.

The below photos are from the Hillcrest Drive sidewalk in front of the Fiore Gardens complex.

The proposed development will not serve the current community schools.  East Hillcrest Drive has elementary and middle schools that are for families with young children.  If a senior development is allowed to be built, the school’s role in the community is diminished.  The residences living in the developments will not have young children that would utilize the schools.  This will affect both schools enrollment numbers.  If the original planned homes are built, then families and children can use the schools and participate in the education process for the community.  The schools were built to provide education to a family community, it’s unfortunate that the residential zoned property does not yet have homes yet, but building a business instead of a family home changes the original area plan for when the schools were built. 

Enrollment numbers are already dropping at Conejo Elementary School.

Click here to download the Conejo Elementary School Enrolment Data. (PDF Download 132 KB)

Read the Acorn Letter

Read the Acorn Letter

Hydam concurrent processing request for zone change and SUP (Special Use Permit) document from 2012.

Concurrent processing request for zone change and SUP document (Download)

On 6.30.13 a discussion and opposition letter writing campaign occurred on Rye Court. The neighborhood attendees authored and singed opposition letters to send to the City Of Thousand Oaks. Participants asked many great questions and provided additional opposition ideas.

Thank you all, who were able to attend and make the event a success.  Also, many thanks to hosts and organizers of the event.

Because of the success of the discussions on Lone Oak Drive and Rye Court, Glenwood Place is looking into hosting a discussion session too.

Currently only around 75 residential dwellings have direct access to East Hillcrest Drive on a four-tenthsmile stretch from North Conejo School Road to Erbes Road. The area density in residences would quadruple in size, if the proposed developments are approved. All the current issues the area has now, would increase. Please view the objections area for details on the current issues and concerns.

Objections

The area has overbuilt the number of Assisted Living Businesses and does not need the proposed one.

The area has several assisted living facilities and two more on the way that have already been approved.  Some of the already opened assisted living facilities have vacancies and no waiting lists.  The Hydam developer states that there is an urgent need for their proposed assisted living facility.  This does not appear to be the case after checking into the current assisted living business census and in reviewing the already approved future assisted living businesses.  Obviously the population is getting older, however this is making the assumption that older population will want to stay in the area and want to live in an assisted living business facility.  All the below businesses are better fits for the surrounding communities. 

There are two already approved assisted living business facilities awaiting construction completion.
111 Unit Senior Housing in Newbury Park
3499 Grande Vista Drive, Newbury Park, CA 91302

130 Unit Senior Housing Project Westlake Village
4415 Lakeview Canyon Road, Westlake Village, CA 91361

Current open assisted living business facilities:

Hillcrest Royale Retirement in Thousand Oaks:
190 East Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360
5 to 10 vacancies at times and no waiting list.

The Reserve at Thousand Oaks:
3575 N Moorpark Rd, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360
5% to 10 % vacancies at times.  Has a waiting list on certain types of units.

Grand Oaks in Thousand Oaks:
2177 E Thousand Oaks Blvd, Thousand Oaks
0 to 6 vacancies at times and the waiting list is very short.

Atria Hillcrest in Thousand Oaks:
405 Hodencamp Rd, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360
The development is separated into two communities.  One community has vacancies and the other community is full.

Sunrise in Westlake Village: information pending.
3101 Townsgate Road Westlake Village, CA 91361

Read the Acorn Letter

The current condition of East Hillcrest Drive and the subsequent side streets are disrespectful to Seniors and impossible to use for disabled Seniors.  Placing a Senior Business on East Hillcrest Drive will imprison its Senior residences.  

The streets and sidewalks on East Hillcrest Drive are in shambles.  Sidewalks and lighting are missing from many high pedestrian traffic streets.  Obstacles plague the paths to major streets that have shopping conveniences.  To traverse the area is incredibly difficult for individuals with disabilities and there are accessibility issues for when they travel to critical locations without the use of a vehicle.

Since the proposed development is for seniors, they will experience these difficulties in trying to acquire an item as common as milk.

Accessibility Issue Presentation - PDF without video (Download 3 MB)

Accessibility Issue Presentation - PowerPoint with video (Download 33 MB)

The City of Thousand Oaks installed a U-Turn sign on Lone Oak Drive a few years ago, after a traffic report study conclude E. Hillcrest Drive has traffic issues.

Vehicles exiting The Rock Church would drive East bound on East Hillcrest Drive.  These vehicles would then use Lone Oak to turn around and head Westbound.  Since there isn't proper U-turn radius, they couldn't make the U-turn (except if in a compact vehicle) and a conflict was created with oncoming (westbound traffic) and southbound cars exiting Lone Oak.  Thus the signs were installed to clean up the intersection.

Since the proposed Assisted Living business development would have a large number of people living in it, the City of Thousand Oaks will need to increase the amount of public services due to the increased city population. The city will need additional police, fire, and other support services. However, according to the City of Thousand Oaks fiscal year comparison cart, the police staffing level will be five employees lower for the 2014-2015 period than it was back in 2005-2006 period.

Read the Acorn Letter

Read the Acorn Letter

On 6.09.13 a panel discussion on the Assisted Living business took place on Lone Oak Drive to provide the most current known information and facts to the community. The neighborhood participants asked many great questions and provided additional backing ideas.  Thank you all, that were able to attend and make the event a success.

Because of the success of the panel discussion on Lone Oak Drive, a similar event will be occurring on June 30th at 4:00 pm on Rye Court. Please contact the group leaders for details.

Glenwood Place is looking into hosting a panel discussion session too.

Developer Hydam Enterprises threat of building condos/apartments if they don’t get the proposed Assisted Living Business is false.  Thousand Oaks Measure E would put such a change to the voters.

Measure E seeks to limit excessive growth in Thousand Oaks by requiring voter approval for any private development that exceeds General Plan guidelines for its location.

Measure E, passed by Thousand Oaks voters in 1996, established a maximum number of housing units and commercial acres permitted in the city under its current General Plan. It requires all General Plan amendments that would add housing units or commercial land beyond that figure to be put to a vote by the public.

“It’s probably one of the strongest growth control ordinances in the state of California,” Andy Fox said of Measure E. “It can’t be (violated). Measure E is very specific (in that it) says if you want to amend the General Plan, to go beyond the General Plan designations that were in existence in 1995, you need to go to the people.”

The developer Hydam would have to incur all the costs associated with placing such a request on a ballot vote.  At this time, no developer has taken such a vote to the City of Thousand Oaks residences.

The Measure E would not apply to the Assisted Living Business, since the proposed plans show a cafeteria and the individual units would not have kitchens.  Measure E applies to condos or apartments, where the units have kitchens.

Read the Acorn Letter

Requested Vehicle Accident Incident Data Received:

In reviewing the provided vehicle accident data, the current rate of accident incidents is presently unacceptable along E. Hillcrest Drive from N. Conejo Schoold Rd to Erbes Road.  The City of Thousand Oaks should do something now to address this issue.  If the proposed development is built, the accident rate will increase.  In about a years’ time there have been 13 vehicle accidents in only a .4 mile length of residential road.

The data also shows that accident rates along E. Hillcrest Drive from N. Skyline to Almon Drive, a similar .4 mile length, is only 1 accident for a the same period of time.  If you increase the length of the road to .5 of a mile and include N Conejo School Road data, the number of accidents in the same period of time goes to 7.  This is still significantly lower than the area where the proposed development would go.

The below data shows the vehicle accidents that have occurred around the proposed development as provide by the Ventura County Sheriff's Office.

Email from Ventura County Sheriff's Office:

Subject: Fwd: Re: Accident incidents - E. Hillcrest Drive Thousand Oaks

Hi,
Sgt. Harwood said you requested some accident information for your area.
I included accidents that were on Hillcrest between Erbes and Skyline. The stats are from 04/01/12-04/30/2013.

Erbes- 2
Glenwood Pl (West)- 1
Glenwood Pl (East) -3
Makenzie-0
Conejo School Rd-6
Almon- 1
Quinta Vista - 0
Skyline-0

I hope this helps.

Loren Machado
Ventura County Sheriff's Office
Sheriff's Service Technician - Thousand Oaks Traffic

E: Loren.Machado@ventura.org
Web: www.vcsd.org

Hillcrest traffic presentation 2, with video. This is a second presentation of the current traffic issues on E. Hillcrest drive.

Traffic Presentation 2 - PowerPoint (Download 23 MB)

Read the Acorn Letter

We have acquired the website domain name http://hillcrestdrivecommunity.com/ to help inform the Hillcrest Community Residences. Please share this website address with your friends and neighbors.

Auto Generate Email to with website address

The various associations and street leaders are actively working with their neighbors in writing letters and emails to Matt Chang.

The developer of the Assisted Living Business started a door to door campaign for their development back in January 2013 using a petition form. The form makes no mention that it is sponsored by the developer and leaves out many of the concerns the Hillcrest Community residences have. The only indication that the Hydam developer is involved is the 311 Haigh Rd, Suite 201 address. To keep with the neighbor theme, the address on the form states “Thousand Oaks”.  Zip code 91320 is actually Newbury Park.

If you have already filled out and submitted the form it’s alright.  Now that you have become better informed of the project, you can resend the form or sign the Hillcrest Drive Petition. You can send an email to Matt Chang too.

311 Haigh Rd address

Hydam Created Petition Document (Download) with do not support example shown.

Estella Park is the closest park to the proposed Assisted Living Business. The park is not recomened for the elderly people or families. It is a known spot for transients.

See pictures and read more on Estella Park

Parking conditions on Glenwood Place can already be horrendous on weekends. If the Assisted Living Business were to be built, people visiting family at the business might also start using Glenwood Place as a parking lot.

Read More on the Parking Page

It appears that an updated “Public Hearing” sign is tentatively scheduled to be posted sometime in July. Once the updated "Public Hearing" sign is updated in July, we will be provided the hearing date.

Matt Chang, Assistant Planner for the City of Thousand Oaks will be out of the office from May 10 to May 27. He will be back in the office on Tuesday, May 28. He can still be reached via email. Please be courteous when communication with Mr. Chang via email or phone.

Hillcrest Residence Community repaired the Hillcrest Drive public hearing sign. The hearing sign fell victim to the recent high winds and flipped to reveal the other side of the board, which showed a past case meeting.

Damage view:

Repaired View:

The Hillcrest Drive (Assisted Living Business) and the (2080 E Hillcrest Drive) zoning changes have their own separate pages now to help differentiate between the projects. The Assisted Living Business will remain on the home page and subsequent pages. The 2080 project has a new separate page, which can be found in the menu navigation at the top of the web page.

Hillcrest traffic presentation 1, with video. This is the first presentation of the current traffic issues on E. Hillcrest drive.

Traffic Presentation 1- PowerPoint (Download 17 MB)

Hello, our Hillcrest Resident Community website has launched as of 4.29.13.

Hello, a petition has been created. It will be taken door to door for signing. You can also contact Roy_Brasher to meet him at his house, to sign the petition. We encourage reaching out to Roy Brasher, since time is short and the petition is being hand carried around the neighbourhood by foot.

The City of Thousand Oaks has posted two public hearing signs at the proposed business site for the Assisted Living business. The signs seem to have been posted the week of 4.15.13. The Date of the hearing is to be announced. Please check back to find out the date of the hearing to be able to attend.

Roy Brasher and Bill Ochs visited residence of the Hillcrest Community on 4.28.13 and provided printed materials on the proposed development and the various objections against the Assisted Living business construction. 100 percent of the neighborhood residents Roy and Bill spoke with, opposed the development site location. Contact information was gathered from the residents neighborhood to assist with coordinating efforts and communicating updates.

To get involved and provide your contact information please visit the contact page.