Thousand Oaks Rejects Proposal for Multistory Shopping Center

A multistory shopping center proposed for the corner of Thousand Oaks and Westlake boulevards was unanimously rejected early Wednesday by the Thousand Oaks City Council after more than 100 people turned out to protest.

Council members said they turned down the proposal for a 255,000-square-foot shopping center because it would be too tall.

“All the planning that has gone into this city precludes the New York skyline,” Mayor Frank Schillo said. “We’re just not interested in that design.”

Rising to 61 feet at its highest point, the proposed project by Haseko/LSP Associates generated stiff opposition from neighbors during a six-hour hearing that lasted into the early morning.

Many were critical of the projected traffic, pollution and increased crime connected with the project. Others contended that the building would block scenic ridgelines and become an eyesore.

An environmental impact report released last fall stated that the project would have “a potentially adverse effect” on views of surrounding mountains.

Opponents from homeowners’ associations in the Westlake area of Thousand Oaks and from the Los Angeles County city of Westlake Village have been fighting the proposed project since it was introduced.

Under the plan, the shopping center would have been large enough to accommodate major department stores and small retail shops. Buildings and a five-story parking garage would have covered 61% of the 10.6-acre site, exceeding the 25% limit for similar shopping centers in the city.

Developer John Scardino said the proposed parking garage is smaller than it appeared on architectural plans because some floors were designed to be below street level. The top floor of the garage actually is an uncovered deck.

“We are a two-story structure from Westlake Boulevard, and two and a half from Thousand Oaks Boulevard,” he told council members.

Scardino said he will consider submitting the project again to city planners. “We’ve got a lot of thinking to do,” he said.

Scardino’s attorney, Chuck Cohen, cited other multistory buildings that have been approved without controversy, including the Exxon Corp. building and a Hyatt hotel.

A private hotel planned as part of a $65-million development on the former Jungleland site is seven stories high. The city approved a maximum height of 75 feet.

Also, Haseko/LSP Associates promised to contribute $2.4 million in fees and road improvements, which would have included the construction of an additional lane on both Westlake and Thousand Oaks boulevards, Scardino said.

The city will have to add lanes on those streets, even if the project is not built, officials said.

The intersection of Thousand Oaks and Westlake boulevards is one of the most congested in the city, handling about 50,000 vehicle trips daily, city officials said. The project would have added 10,750 trips each day.

A group of about 80 supporters wore badges showing their support for the shopping center, called “The Village.” Many were employees of Mervyn’s, which had planned to open a department store in Thousand Oaks.

“What is wrong with The Oaks? Nothing,” project supporter Doc Needham said. “I would remind these people that that development was highly contested, yet it was created.”

Neighbors, including one former Thousand Oaks city councilman, disagreed, saying they did not want to see towering structures at the easternmost entrance to Thousand Oaks. Protesters, who oppose structures exceeding 35 feet in height, wore bright green badges that carried a silhouette of a metropolitan skyline and the statement “35’s the limit.”

“We’ve taken great pride in this community,” Larry Horner, former Thousand Oaks mayor and councilman, said. “It will just be a nightmare.”