Supervisor Parks responds to library editorial

I'd like to correct a statement in your editorial on the Reagan Library and the Tierra Rejada greenbelt. I did not say that annexing the Reagan Library would "threaten the Tierra Rejada Greenbelt Agreement."

What I did say, and what your reporter correctly reported, is that the greenbelt agreement must be amended before the Reagan Library can be annexed.

The greenbelt agreements, signed by the cities of Moorpark, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks and the county, require the agreements be amended before land in a greenbelt can be annexed into a city.

The 100-acre Reagan Library and the over 100 acres of property adjacent to the library are currently in the Tierra Rejada Greenbelt, so to annex them into the city of Simi Valley requires the greenbelt agreement to be amended.

The question I pose is, do we want to do more to protect the Tierra Rejada Valley now that we are opening and amending the greenbelt agreements?

Instead of something controversial, I see commonality and really no opposition to protecting the land around the Reagan Library or to annexing the Reagan Library into the city of Simi Valley.

The county and the cities of Moorpark, Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks are now sitting down to talk about these issues.

This is a good thing. I also see it as an opportunity to do more.

We can put teeth into the agreements by making them into a law as they've done for other greenbelts in West Ventura County. I'd also like to see heightened protections for the land around the Reagan Library, prohibitions on new highintensity lighting (like that at the driving range), and an acknowledgment of the importance of the wildlife corridors there.

Since the greenbelt agreement has to be amended, we can give it some teeth and do more to protect the Tierra Rejada Valley from urban sprawl. I look forward to a positive outcome and encourage your support. Linda Parks County supervisor, 2nd District