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Votes at a glance: Council approves CDBG action plan, user-fee changes, false-alarm ordinance, grants and a Horner scholarship
Summary
At its April 29 meeting the Thousand Oaks City Council approved the 2025 CDBG action plan, adopted updated user fees and development impact fees, introduced a revised false-alarm ordinance, awarded community events grants, and authorized an endowed scholarship in the name of former Mayor Lawrence E. Horner. All motions passed 5-0.
The Thousand Oaks City Council voted unanimously on multiple items at its April 29 meeting, including federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) documents, citywide user fees and development impact fees, an update to the city's false-alarm ordinance, fiscal-year 2025-26 community events grant awards, and establishment of an endowed scholarship honoring former Mayor Lawrence E. Horner.
The council approved the CDBG-related documents that will be submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and authorized staff to finalize grant agreements subject to the county's submittal process. The action includes an estimated annual CDBG entitlement for Thousand Oaks of approximately $623,000 and a five-year allocation estimate of $3,000,000 for the city.
Councilmembers also adopted a broad user-fee update and adjustments to certain development impact fees after staff presented a citywide cost-of-service review and recommended fee schedule. Staff and consultant Matrix Consulting Group told the council the work was intended to align fees with the cost of services and to improve clarity and usability of the fee schedule.
The council introduced and approved updates to the false-alarm ordinance that emphasize education-first compliance, allow the finance director to create a voluntary educational program for alarm users, and move fine amounts to the city's master fee resolution. Staff stated that in 2024 the Thousand Oaks Police Department responded to roughly 1,700 alarm calls, with repeat commercial sites accounting for a disproportionate share.
On grants, the council accepted the Community Funding Review Committee's recommendations to award $89,890.62 to 21 community events and arts programs through the Fiscal Year 2025-26 community events grant (CEG) cycle and retained $10,000 for off-cycle requests.
Finally, the council approved creating an endowed scholarship named for four-term Mayor Lawrence E. Horner and authorized an initial contribution of $26,020 to the Ventura County Community Foundation (VCCF) to allow the scholarship to provide awards beginning in the 2026 scholarship cycle. Council directed staff to work with the Horner family and VCCF to finalize eligibility criteria.
Votes at a glance - Consent calendar: motion passed 5-0. - Fiscal Year 2025-26 community events grant awards (CEG): motion to approve committee recommendations passed 5-0; recommended total $89,890.62 to 21 programs; $10,000 retained for off-cycle grants. - Item 10a: 2025–26 CDBG Action Plan and related HUD documents: motion to approve and authorize submittal to HUD via Ventura County passed 5-0; estimated annual entitlement ~$623,000; five-year allocation to Thousand Oaks ~$3,000,000. - Item 10b: False-alarm ordinance update (Thousand Oaks Municipal Code amendments to Title 5, Chapter 13): motion to introduce and adopt (title read) passed 5-0; enforcement moved to master fee schedule and education-first measures added. - Item 10c: Citywide user fees, fines, penalties and selected development impact fees for FY 2025–27: motion to adopt the fee resolutions passed 5-0 (includes traffic impact and police facilities fees adjustments). - Item 12A: Establish Lawrence E. Horner scholarship via Ventura County Community Foundation: motion to fund at $26,020, establish the endowed scholarship, and consult Horner family on eligibility passed 5-0.
What passed and next steps - Staff will finalize and submit HUD documents through the county for the CDBG action plan; selected projects (including roof replacement at Shadow Hills Apartments and mobile-home rehab programs) were in the staff presentation as recommended uses. - The updated user-fee schedule will go into effect July 1, 2025, if the council-adopted resolutions are finalized. - The city clerk will record ordinance amendments for the false-alarm update and staff will implement the education program and master-fee changes. - The VCCF will receive the initial funding for the Horner scholarship; staff will return with final eligibility criteria after family consultation.
Council voting, as recorded at the meeting, was unanimous on all items (5-0).
