Scrutiny begins on Home Depot
application
By John Loesing
Acorn Staff Writer

Plans have been submitted to the city of Agoura Hills for the long awaited commercial redevelopment project along Agoura Road, including construction of a 115,330 square-foot Home Depot store, among other retailers.

Selleck Development Group of Westlake Village submitted a $13,760 filing fee last month and a bundle of drawings, maps and description papers, but no mention of how long it will take to secure all the property needed for the project.

The 255,300 square-foot shopping center, called Ladyface Village Center, would be built between Kanan Road and Litton Industries just south of the 101 Freeway.

Developer Dan Selleck has purchase agreements on all but one of the lots needed. The lone holdout is Mel Adams, owner of a long-standing equipment rental business at 29439 Agoura Road. So far, Adams has refused to sell his 1.8-acre parcel.

City officials have spent years working with different developers on buying properties and moving existing companies to different locations so newer businesses could sprout. Selleck’s project has come closest to meeting the city’s wishes, sources have said, but the proposal still has two obstacles to overcome: how to strike a deal with Adams and how to overcome growing public opposition to the Home Depot store.

Agoura Hills City Manager Dave Adams said the city’s planning commission probably wouldn’t begin hearings on the project until later this year.

"We can’t proceed until he has either the property secured or the property owners’ permission," Adams said.

At a meeting with Selleck two months ago, Adams agreed to consider a relocation of his business to a 1.5-acre parcel on Dorothy Drive, north of the freeway. But the owner of the property told him, Adams said, that any negotiations would have to wait until after the April 15 tax deadline.

Adams said Selleck previously offered $1.75 million for his land, but no buildings to house his business.

"For the record … Mr. Selleck had initially offered to buy his land and relocate him and physically build him an office and wall it, and Mel said no," said Agoura Hills City Councilman Denis Weber.

Adams said he’s not averse to moving.

"I’m still not wanting to hold the thing up. All I want to do is be made whole," Adams said.

The city prefers that Selleck and Adams negotiate a deal privately so the land doesn’t have to be taken by eminent domain.

"If they do take it by eminent domain, it’ll go down the road two or three years to court and I want to tell you, with a jury trial, I know I will get compensated for what I have on here," Adams said. "I’ve been here 35 years."

Adams said he has an "ace up his sleeve" if the city tries to take the property by condemnation, but wouldn’t elaborate.

No Target

Ladyface Village Center would be built in two phases, according to Selleck’s proposal.

The first phase calls for construction of Home Depot, a 24,300 square-foot outdoor garden center and a 3,000 square-foot fast food restaurant with drive-through window. Phase two on the west will feature several smaller retailers, possible office tenants and at least three restaurants, including two fast food chains.

"We’ve gone to more of a multi-tenant village concept on the west end, keeping the Litton oak tree and kind of making that the focal point of the center," Selleck said.

Plans don’t include a Target store. Talk of putting a Target either north or south of the freeway goes back to 1996, but no developer could cinch a deal.

Selleck said the new shopping center would represent a drastic improvement over the hodge-podge of older businesses currently there. The Agoura Animal shelter would be moved just west of Reyes Adobe Road.

"The redevelopment of the site will result in new development meeting the city’s stringent development requirements," said the application. "As is required by the city of Agoura Hills, a great deal of attention has been paid to both the architectural design and landscape design of the proposed project."

Home Depot, which appears similar in design to the one that opened last year off Wendy Drive in Newbury Park, would be 45 feet high and exceed Agoura Hills height restrictions by 10 feet. The application said the extra height was needed to make the building more "aesthetically pleasing."

The back of the store would face the freeway.

Home Depot, which is ranked sixth in Fortune magazine’s 2001 list of the Top 10 Most Admired Companies in America, said that it wants to be a "partner" in the city’s future in a recent mailer. The item was sent to Agoura Hills and other nearby residents.

Estimated sales tax revenue to the city from Home Depot would be $500,000 per year.

But many residents oppose the retailer. E-mails to city reportedly have been running more than 75 percent opposed.

"People come in here every day and there isn’t two people out of the bunch that would like to see a Home Depot come in here," Adams said. "What are we going to do with the traffic?

Developers have agreed to widen Agoura Road into four lanes with a center median and pedestrian and bicycling amenities. On the east side of the rectangular-shaped development, a link would connect Roadside Drive and Agoura Road to ease traffic.

Selleck said the shopping center would result in "positive outcomes" for the community.

"A council prior to me made it a redevelopment area to clean up blight," Weber said. "If this area doesn’t qualify as some place that’s blighted, nowhere in the city does."

Selleck said existing Agoura Road businesses don’t conform to city standards.

City planners say the shopping center must provide an environmental impact report, an oak tree permit and details about on-site grading and drainage before the project can move forward.