The Fight Against Dos Vientos Development Moves to City Hall : Newbury Park: Environmentalists opposed to 220-home initial phase have won support from county and federal officials.

Newbury Park activists will take their underdog fight against the Dos Vientos development to City Hall next week--and they’ll be backed by county and federal officials who believe the project could foul air, snarl traffic and trample wildlife habitat.

The project’s foes will get a chance to explain their fears at a public hearing Tuesday night, when council members will consider allowing construction of 220 single-family homes on Dos Vientos Ranch.

Designed as a gated community, the houses represent the first stage of a massive development that could eventually include 2,350 homes on the gentle foothills off Potrero Road in Newbury Park.

Local environmentalists, backed by City Council members Elois Zeanah and Jaime Zukowski, have fought the Dos Vientos development vigorously for years.

With escalating anger, they have called city leaders immoral for considering a project that would pave scenic backcountry. And they have blasted the development as ill-conceived and poorly planned.

As they gear up for Tuesday’s meeting, the home-grown activists have earned support from the Ventura County Department of Public Works and the National Park Service.

The park service’s regional superintendent, David Gackenbach, has written a scathing letter suggesting that the Dos Vientos project could ruin sensitive ecosystems and degrade nearby hiking trails.

In the six-page letter, Gackenbach told the council that judging the project based primarily on “the economic benefit for the community . . . is myopic.”

The city might enjoy a temporary fiscal boost from the development, Gackenbach wrote, but such gains would wither quickly. Meanwhile, citizens “will suffer from the effects of environmental depredation forever,” he warned.

Such fiery rhetoric appears to have caught the attention of at least one gung-ho Dos Vientos supporter, Councilman Frank Schillo.

Schillo helped negotiate a binding contract that the city signed with two Dos Vientos developers back in 1987. That document guaranteed the developers the right to build up to 2,350 homes in the rolling backcountry.

In exchange, the developers promised to pay the city $12.6 million. They also agreed to contribute money to two of the council’s pet projects: the Civic Arts Plaza endowment fund and the Under One Roof campaign for social-service groups.

Since brokering the agreement, Schillo has fervently defended it, arguing again and again that the city has an obligation to uphold the deal and allow development to proceed.

Under that reasoning, next week’s hearing might be considered a formality, as the council reviews the specific locations and designs of the initial 220 homes slated for Dos Vientos.

But on Friday, after scanning the environmental critiques, Schillo said he would not blindly approve the construction. Before giving developers a green light, Schillo said he would demand adequate answers to residents’ concerns about environmental impacts.

“We will have to find that the (impacts) are not a problem, and I’m not sure I could find that right now,” Schillo said. “I’ll have to decide at the public hearing.”

Schillo is locked in a tight race for county supervisor with local attorney Trudi Loh, who has run as an environmentalist opposing the Dos Vientos project.

A pro-Loh group, Residents to Preserve Newbury Park, recently circulated a flyer urging voters to lobby Schillo to vote down the project. And other council members said they sensed the political pressure building to overturn the development agreement.

“It’s astounding, the sense of betrayal” voters in Newbury Park feel, Zukowski said.

“The attitude of the (council majority) is that we have this development agreement so our hands are tied. But what is the purpose of the city but to protect the long-term welfare of our residents?” Zukowski said.

Despite the strong anti-Dos Vientos movement, however, activist Mike Dunn said he believes the council will end up approving the 220-home tract.

“The attitude on the street right now is that our presentation Tuesday night won’t make any difference because the decision’s already been made,” he said.

Dunn predicted a 3-2 vote in favor of the developers. “Then we’ll all go home and the real battle will start the next day, with a probable lawsuit” by environmentalists, he said.