Lowe’s traffic causes concern

I am writing to express my concern regarding the proposed Town Center at Westlake Village.

I much prefer the thought of office buildings which attract higher paying jobs and overall much less disruptive traffic than the congestion projected to be generated by the Lowe’s project. Just because the traffic with the Lowe’s plan is not “over capacity” (per the EIR) for the roads does not mean it is not too much traffic.

Furthermore, the type of traffic is what concerns me. From what I understand, homeowners near the site have already had to deal with nosy trucks delivering at all hours of the day and night to Albertson’s, PetSmart, etc. I know that the city council is aware of this ongoing problem and has been unable to regulate it and assist the residents, even though I understand they are sympathetic. I think it is crazy to exacerbate this problem by putting in a home improvement store that will increase this problem significantly.

I think we who live south of the freeway are kidding ourselves if we think we won’t be impacted by so many changes north of the freeway. Just look at the shape emerging on Lindero Canyon between the westbound 101 off ramp and Thousand Oaks Boulevard. Gone are the rolling hills and fields that once graced my drive toward my daughter’s preschool. Here to stay is the upcoming Dole/Four Seasons Hotel and the Marriott. Our out-oftown visitors have asked if the upcoming Dole/Four Seasons is a prison, hospital or school under construction. I wonder if the city council had any input into its design.

To the Westlake City Council—please let residents have a say on the zone changes required for Town Center at Westlake Village to be developed. The Lowe’s project requires the Westlake City Council to make a zone change in order for the project to happen and the council is not obligated to make the zone change.

I implore all Westlake Village residents to at least research this very important issue and beg the council to put the issue before us for a vote and also to push the public hearing dates from Jan. 5 and 7 to February. Could there be a worse week for a public hearing than the first week of the new year? Janette Weiss Westlake Village