Big-box ban placed on ballot

The City Council has voted to place an anti-traffic initiative on the June 3 ballot, while officials of the city’s only hospital warned that the measure could halt its expansion.

The council’s action was a formality because supporters of the measure had collected enough signatures to place it before voters. But during the panel’s meeting Tuesday night, some officials expressed concern about the potential consequences of the initiative.

Earlier, the council reviewed a report that warned the city could lose at least $3 million a year in revenue and potentially tens of millions more because the measure would discourage development.

“This traffic initiative is very, very poor public policy,” Councilman Dennis Gillette said.

Jim Sherman, chief executive of Los Robles Regional Medical Center, warned that the 290-bed hospital may be forced to shut down its maternity, neonatal intensive care, pediatrics and oncology units if voters approve the initiative.

State seismic standards require Los Robles to replace by 2013 its 40-year-old main building, which administrators have determined too expensive to retrofit. “I have no reason to doubt that if the initiative passes our newly proposed building would not be built,” Sherman said.

The traffic initiative seeks to prevent additional “big-box retailers” in Thousand Oaks. If passed, it would subject large retail projects to a public vote if they increased traffic.

--

-- Gregory W. Griggs