This week Westlake Village officials expect to release a long-awaited environmental impact report for a project some are describing as the most controversial proposal ever to come before the city. Home improvement chain Lowe’s, along with Rotkin Real Estate, are proposing a 230,000-square-foot retail center with restaurants, an Aston Martin/Bentley car dealership and other retailers in addition to the Lowe’s store, which would comprise about 168,000 square feet. The proposal would require what amounts to a sea change in the master planned city’s general and specific plans, which call for an office complex to be developed on the site, located north of the Ventura (101) Freeway area at Russell Ranch Road, a stone’s throw from the posh Four Seasons hotel and a luxury spa, Dole Wellness Center, under construction and bordered by two posh residential communities. But as has become typical of small-city development issues, this one has moved beyond the question of whether or not the general plan still fits the needs of the city into a free-for-all discussion about traffic, open space and tax revenues. “I think there are very definitely residents in town who don’t feel Lowe’s is the right thing,” said City of Westlake Village Mayor Mark Rutherford, who said he has not yet formed an opinion about the retail center. “On the other side of the coin, there are people who would rather not have anything go there, and that’s a very real group. Then there are other groups who say, I don’t want more office, I want retail. At this stage, all I can say is, I truly believe there is a balance of pros and cons, and I don’t believe there is a clear majority one way or another.” Many developers say, albeit privately, that despite the red tape involved in dealing with the city of Los Angeles, they prefer working with big-city government where a general plan is a general plan. In large cities, they say, the city council members are career politicians they follow a predictable pattern of procedures and rules. In small cities, developers say, it’s harder to read the different agendas, and often, those agendas keep changing. So far, most of the five-member city council in Westlake Village is reserving judgment, at least publicly, on the project, which came to the table several years ago when the office market was languishing and the property owner was unable to find an office user for the parcel. With stores like Nordstrom and Saks 5th Avenue showing some interest in exploring the location, the council was willing to listen to alternative uses. Those discussions never panned out, but Lowe’s, which has only one West Hills store to competitor Home Depot’s three West San Fernando Valley units along with stores in Thousand Oaks and Camarillo, was anxious to establish a presence in the area. “Our research has shown the market is underserved, and we know how much people value their homes,” said Jennifer Smith, a Lowe’s spokeswoman, adding that “our strategy is not tied to any other retailer.” Lowe’s and Rotkin have been working with Westlake City officials for a year to shape their project. Rotkin said the initial plan was changed to accommodate the community’s desire for restaurants, to preserve the oak trees on the site and to provide a gathering place. A luxury car dealership was also added. Meanwhile, the office market improved and now Opus West, a developer with a long track record in office space construction in the Conejo Valley has said it is willing to go forward with an office project consistent with the existing entitlements. But first the retail proposal must be resolved. The project’s most vocal opponent seems to be a competitive retailer, Do It Centers. Officials there concede that they have a financial interest in keeping Lowe’s out of Westlake Village, but they also argue that the project will bring excessive traffic, and the big box store will change the profile intended for the area. “(Dole Chairman) Dave Murdock is spending millions of dollars to bring a world-class hotel to Westlake Village and they’re considering putting a Lowe’s in the front yard,” said Mark Sellers, an attorney with Jackson DeMarco Tidus & Peckenpaugh LLC, which represents Do It Centers. A group that calls itself Westlake Village United conducted a survey of residents over the summer and the results, posted on its Web site, show residents oppose the Lowe’s project two to one. But responses to alternative uses, including the office park, were nearly evenly split, with only slightly more residents favoring the project than opposing it. Indeed, the idea that got the greatest support was a city park, and, unless the city can fork over somewhere in the neighborhood of $1 million an acre to buy the parcel from its owner, a park isn’t even an option. (E-mails requesting a spokesperson for the group were unanswered.) With no clear mandate from the community, much of the city council is awaiting the environmental impact report and the town hall meetings which will take place sometime in January before making a decision. So far, only one councilmember has publicly expressed opposition to the plan. “The entitlement that goes with the land at present is for an office park, and I think there’s good reason for that,” said Councilman Jim Bruno. “People who bought in Renaissance and Canyon Oaks bought under the premise there would be a passive office park with little activity on the weekends when people are together, and I didn’t feel the council had the right to pre-empt that,” said Bruno. But the general plan may well be overshadowed as councilmembers consider the relative impact of the traffic the competing projects will bring and the tax revenues that the Lowe’s project promises. “What this would allow us to do if it passes, and my mind isn’t 100 percent made up, is the income would allow us to do a lot more for the city,” said Phillippa Klessig. “The city was founded in 1981, and it’s time to refurbish and update. It would allow us to do more with our city funds.”
