Board approves replacement flowage easement for 37‑acre Orchard site after contentious hearing

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors voted 4‑1 on Tuesday to accept a settlement that replaces a decades‑old flowage easement on a 37‑acre parcel along U.S. 101 at Borchard Road in Thousand Oaks and to authorize county staff to release the replacement easement administratively only after strict conditions are satisfied.

The property — known in staff reports and public testimony as the Orchard property — has been subject to a Watershed Protection District flowage easement recorded in 1978. County staff and counsel told the board the replacement easement preserves the district’s current right to use the land for flood detention and periodic inundation while adding detailed conditions that must be met before the easement can be extinguished for development.

Why it mattered: Residents and environmental advocates urged the board to retain the old easement intact, saying the parcel functions as a seasonal wetland, hosts rare plants and migratory birds, and provides critical…