The golf course idea has been abandoned.

Keeping Rancho Potrero's rolling hills with the ocean view open space is still part of the plan. But what about picnic areas on the 316-acre site, just outside Thousand Oaks? Or maybe an outdoor classroom?

Those are some of the ideas for the property on the south side of Lynn Road in the Dos Vientos area, between Via Las Brisas and Rancho Dos Vientos Drive.

Refining the concepts for the picturesque parkland will fall to a focus group that will convene next month.

The group includes representatives from each of the Dos Vientos homeowners associations, the neighboring equestrian center, the Conejo Open Space Trails Advisory Committee, the general equestrian community, the owners of the adjacent property, the National Parks Service and a former City Council member.

"We'll work with them to come up with the specifics of how will this work," said Jim Friedl, general manager of the Conejo Recreation and Park District. "We look at this focus group as refining the concept plan to have more specifics rather than a gray blob on a page."

The refined ideas will be worked into a specific plan, which outlines what can be put in a certain area.

Community members and the boards for the Park District and Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency will have a chance to provide input on the specific plan before it heads to Thousand Oaks' Planning Commission and City Council.

Any necessary environmental reviews would also be conducted at the site.

The culmination of the work that begins next month will be an effort to annex the property into the city and Park District's jurisdiction.

"We're hoping to have it annexed by the end of the year," Friedl said.

There was an effort to annex the property in 2003, but it didn't pan out. The proposed zoning at the time was too broad and would have allowed for a host of uses on the scenic land.

The specific plan will help nail down what would be allowed on the property.

"It's an important project," said Mark Towne, deputy director of the city's Department of Community Development. "We've come a long way, and this is really the last major step in this process."

The effort to develop a specific plan started in 2005 with the Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency, a joint powers agency created by an agreement between the city of Thousand Oaks and the Park District.

A total of 640 acres there were purchased in 1993, with the city putting in $1 million, the Park District $1.9 million, and the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority contributing $1.4 million.

The National Park Service bought 314 acres, buying out the conservation authority.