Petition drive goes into full swing
By John Loesing
Acorn Staff Writer

Petition drive organizers say they’ve collected more than half the signatures needed to force a special election that would keep Home Depot and other large retailers from moving to Agoura Hills.

Citizens for Responsible Growth sent volunteers into the community last Saturday asking residents to sign a petition that puts a cap on "big box" stores at 60,000 square feet.

Plans for 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.

The Citizens missed an Aug. 10 deadline that would have placed the issue on the November general election ballot. But by collecting at least 1,878 signatures, or 15 percent of the city’s registered voters, they can force a separate referendum on the issue by early next year.

Hundreds of names were added to the petition over the weekend as 14 volunteers canvassed the community on foot. Two more volunteers rode on horseback to collect signatures from Old Agoura residents.

Andrew Abrams planned to go door-to-door with his wife.

"For us it’s a traffic thing," Abrams said. "It will change the character of the town. With Home Depot, we don’t have the pride. There’s one 10 minutes up the road."

The Home Depot in Thousand Oaks had been under attack since the early 1990s for a variety of code violations, according to documents from the city’s planning department. Violations included noisy truck deliveries in the late night and early morning hours, and some residents fear similar problems in Agoura Hills.

The Thousand Oaks Home Depot recently moved to a new location Newbury Park.

"They’ll promise you the world, but once they get in, watch out," said Al Abrams, the Citizens’ director. He’s unrelated to Andrew Abrams.

Petition volunteers will be posted this weekend at various businesses in town and at the Agoura Hills Post Office, Abrams said.

The goal is to collect at least 3,000 signatures in case some of the names are thrown out during verification. Abrams hopes to complete the petition drive by the middle of September.

"We’re moving at a fast clip," Abrams said. "I think it’s taking everybody by surprise."

"It’s 25-1. Everybody who walks up here wants to sign this thing," said Dan Crisafulli, a Citizens member who collected names in front of the Do-It Center store.

Hardware and building supply retailers along Roadside Drive and Agoura Road banded together in opposition to Home Depot and hired Abrams as their spokesperson.

Abrams, a community activist who lives in Tarzana, disputed charges that he’s a "carpetbagger."

"This is a regional issue. When people from Oak Park and rural Agoura and Malibou Lake complain about Home Depot, they don’t get labeled as carpetbaggers," Abrams said.

Not all residents wanted to sign the petition.

"I have mixed feelings on this," said one man who asked that his name be withheld. "I don’t want to see a tremendous amount of development, on the other hand, some things make sense. I’d like to see a Home Depot here, but there’s no way they’ll build a 60,000 square-foot store."

"What I worry about is what it will do to Agoura Road," said Ann Lanaro, an Agoura Hills resident. "It’s not going to be our city any more if these big stores keep coming in."

Home Depot would be part of a 255,300 square-foot shopping center called Ladyface Village Center. It’s been in the planning stages for over a year by Westlake Village developer Dan Selleck, who’s courting restaurants, a health food market, a sporting goods store and a clothing store in addition to Home Depot.

A copy of the proposed ballot initiative is posted at Website www.saveagoura.com.