Opponents file initiative to stop The Home Depot
Agoura Hills ballot measure will let voters decide
By John Loesing
Acorn Staff Writer

An Agoura Hills group fighting the Home Depot on Agoura Road made a formal request to the city last week for a November referendum that would allow residents to take a vote on the controversial store.

Citizens for Responsible Growth asked for the special referendum to make a zoning ordinance change limiting the gross floor area of any retail store in the city to 60,000 square feet.

Plans for the Home Depot, which would be built one-half mile west of Kanan Road and just south of the 101 Freeway, call for 140,000 square feet, including a 24,300-square-foot outdoor garden center.

An application to build the "big box" store and other shops and restaurants in the Agoura Road redevelopment corridor is currently under review by the city’s planning commission. The commission and the city council cannot make a decision on the project until all environmental reports are complete and the proposal has undergone scrutiny by staff members, elected officials and the public.

The Citizens group wants to take matters into its own hands.

"The purpose of submitting this proposed initiative is to help guide the Agoura Hills City Council," said Al Abrams, the group’s spokesman.

"We believe the city council should think long and hard about the implications of permitting such ‘big boxes’ to come into Agoura Hills," Abrams said. "This ballot initiative and proposed ordinance will provide them the benefit of the strong voice of the people as it considers those decisions."

Current zoning laws prohibit stores over 60,000 square feet from being built in the freeway corridor zone unless they meet certain conditions. Large buildings generally cannot be within 500 feet of homes, for example. The laws are intended to protect the many residents on the north side of the freeway. It was determined the south side of the freeway, the location of Home Depot, would be safe for big box development since few homes are in the area.

Opponents say no matter where the large retailers are located, they create traffic congestion on roads, bridges and intersections, as well