Council signals strong support for regional homeless housing partnership

Newbury Park residents experiencing homelessness could soon have a path to permanent housing of their own, after the Thousand Oaks City Council signaled strong support Sept. 15 for a partnership with Ventura County that would secure 10 dedicated units in a new supportive housing development near Camarillo.

Under the proposal described at the council meeting, the city would make a one-time $2 million contribution toward construction of permanent supportive housing on South Lewis Road in unincorporated Ventura County. In exchange, 10 of the development's 88 units would be reserved for eligible Thousand Oaks residents — for 55 years.

The discussion was informational only, allowing city staff to gauge council interest. With all five council members speaking in favor, staff will now prepare a formal agreement and budget plan to bring back for a future vote. The Thousand Oaks Acorn (Newbury Park) first reported on the Sept. 15 meeting.

What the Partnership Would Provide

The 10 units set aside for Thousand Oaks would be "tiny homes" — self-contained units with a kitchenette, bathroom, and combined living/sleeping area, according to Kimberlee Albers, the county's homeless solutions director.

The project targets people experiencing homelessness who also live with mental illness or substance use disorders. Albers told the council that residents must already be connected to a behavioral health provider and have a verified diagnosis before moving in, which she described as "a good step" ensuring tenants are engaged in services from day one.

Ongoing behavioral health support would come from the county, while on-site property management would be handled by Many Mansions, a Thousand Oaks-based nonprofit affordable housing provider — a local organization many Newbury Park residents may know from its decades of work in the Conejo Valley.

The project has substantial state backing. The California Department of Housing and Community Development awarded it nearly $27 million through Homekey, a statewide initiative to sustain and expand housing for people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

Building on Thrive Grove's Momentum

The county partnership would become the city's second completed housing initiative for homeless residents, following Thrive Grove, the navigation center the city opened in May 2025 at 1205 Lawrence Drive. The $8 million facility provides 30 housing units along with on-site support services designed to help residents navigate resources and transition toward stability.

"I am very proud of the Thrive Grove Center," Councilmember Mikey Taylor said at the meeting. "The approach we took is to help people get off the streets... and I think that is one of the primary drivers of why we've seen the results we have in the city."

Those results are measurable. The annual Point-in-Time count found 123 people experiencing homelessness in Thousand Oaks in 2025; the 2026 count recorded 87 — a drop of roughly 29%. The count, conducted by volunteers on a single day each year, is generally treated as a barometer of the population rather than a precise census, but the trend line matches what city leaders say they're seeing on the ground.

A Contrast With the Stalled Homekey Project

The new county partnership also stands in contrast to the city's other experience with Homekey funding. An effort to renovate the former Quality Inn at 12 Conejo Boulevard remains tied up in court after a person associated with the developer, Shangri-La Industries, allegedly used state funds for personal use, according to the Acorn's reporting. Because Thousand Oaks acted as a co-applicant and co-grantee in that project, the city has been named as a defendant in the state's ongoing lawsuit.

In the Lewis Road deal, the city's role is far narrower: a one-time financial contribution to a county-led project, rather than a co-grantee position that carries legal exposure. That distinction was part of the appeal for a council that has seen how the Quality Inn litigation played out.

A Path From Shelter to Ownership

Later in the same meeting, the council took a separate step aimed at the other end of the housing continuum. Members introduced an ordinance amending the municipal code to exempt projects made up entirely of income-restricted ownership units from the city's development fee and eight traffic impact fees.

The goal, officials said, is to lower construction costs for small Habitat-style or self-help housing projects so that families who have stabilized — often after time in a shelter or supportive housing — have a realistic route to homeownership in Thousand Oaks. The idea is to let them build equity rather than remain indefinitely in the rental and subsidy system.

What Comes Next

For Newbury Park residents, the immediate takeaway is that the city's homelessness strategy is shifting from emergency shelter toward permanent housing, with regional cooperation as the mechanism. The next milestone will be a formal agreement and budget plan for the $2 million contribution, which will return to the council for a binding vote. If approved, the city's 10 tiny-home units would be reserved for local residents for the next 55 years.

The fee-exemption ordinance, meanwhile, will move through the city's standard legislative process before taking effect.

No timeline for the formal vote has been announced. City staff indicated they would return with details once the agreement with the county is drafted.