Two longtime planning commissioners step down

By Stephanie Bertholdo Acorn Staff Writer

LISA ADAMS/The Acorn MAYOR EXPRESSES GRATITUDE-Ray Shackelford, left, and Diane Walker stand with Agoura Hills Mayor Dan Kuperberg while holding plaques given to them by the city in recognition for their years of service to the city planning commission. Shackelford and Walker were honored during a recent city council meeting.

Diane Walker and Ray Shack-elford, two longtime Agoura Hills planning commissioners, have stepped down to pursue other interests. The Agoura Hills City Council honored Walker and Shackelford last week.

Mayor Dan Kuperberg said, "When you thank God something wasn’t built (in a given area), you can thank Diane Walker."

For her 14 years of commitment to the city, Walker was praised. Kuperberg called her a "stalwart of Old Agoura." She has helped make Agoura Hills a wonderful place to live, he said.

A successful businesswoman, Walker joined the planning commission in March 1989 and served as chairwoman several times. Since then, she’s been a decision-maker on a host of land-use and city ordinance issues, starting with business signage.

Signs with logos were once forbidden in the city, Walker said in a subsequent interview. She recalled that when Tony Roma’s restaurant came here (now the site of the Buddha Bar on Agoura Road, east of Reyes Adobe Road), the city’s sign ordinance wouldn’t allow the use of the company’s time-honored logo. Walker didn’t agree with the law and she worked to eventually change the ordinance.

Johnny Rocket’s was the first business that was allowed to use its logo without filing an appeal in Agoura Hills.

Walker also recalled the development of a mall on the south side of the freeway where Hamburger Hamlet previously operated. "The lights looked like runway lights," Walker said.

She once took a new commissioner on a tour of Westlake Village and Thousand Oaks, pointing out the effect of lighting on businesses and the general ambience of the area.

"I’m an involved person in the big world of things," Walker said. "I never had any extra time and don’t expect to now."

Shackelford, who was appointed by City Councilman Jeff Reinhardt six years ago, said it was rewarding to be a commissioner.

"It was more or less a perfect fit," he said of his desire to serve on the planning commission after he retired in 1995.

For 31 years Shackelford worked as chief underwriter for the Federal Housing Administration and he was also a director with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, running numerous programs in Southern California and Arizona.

Reinhardt called Shackelford "a walking history book."

The Snyder project on Canwood Street provided a challenge for Schackelford. So many issues had to be considered, he said, including density, traffic, land use and "everything else you could think of." He felt a great deal of satisfaction when the project was approved with his input, Shackelford said.

But fresh ideas are important, too. "It was time to get new blood on the commission," Shackelford said. A city can be measured by the number of volunteers working in it and Agoura Hills has many, he said.