The good, the bad and the Lowe’s

There comes a point when communities facing overdevelopment say enough is enough, it’s time to stop growing or pay the consequences. Perhaps Agoura Hills, Calabasas and Westlake Village have reached that point, or it certainly seems that way following last week’s decision to block the Lowe’s home improvement store in Westlake.

Four years ago, voters stopped construction of a Home Depot in Agoura Hills. Last fall, voters killed plans for a large resort development in Calabasas, and last week the Westlake Village City Council failed to approve the Lowe’s big box store.

Does anybody see a trend here?

Ironically, the biggest beneficiary of the Lowe’s defeat isn’t the residents of Westlake Village, the ones who spoke against the retail chain at last week’s hearings. They’ll still have to put up with the heavy morning and afternoon traffic of a large office complex that will likely be built instead of Lowe’s. In fact, the peak hour traffic from the offices will be heavier than Lowe’s, planners predict.

The biggest winner in all this is Jess Ruf, owner of the Thousand Oaks and Agoura Hills Do-it Center chain, a direct competitor of Lowe’s and Home Depot. Over the years, Ruf has fought hard against the two big retailers. He’s had to close stores in other parts of the state because of the Home Depot intrusion and clearly would had to have close one, if not two of his local Do-it Centers had Lowe’s gone forward.

Lowe’s will live to see another day. The giant home improvement chain will find other locations and continue its solid, nationwide growth. And Westlake Village, even without the Lowe’s tax revenue, will continue to shine as one of the wealthiest cities in Los Angeles County. But Ruf might have had to say goodbye to the community where he lives. Countless other stores that sell home improvement products such as flooring, windows, janitorial supplies and gardening supplies also would have been jeopardized and are breathing a sigh of relief, too. That’s the human cost of the so-called “Wal-Mart effect” and it’s happening all across America.

Let’s not forget, however, the system of free enterprise upon which our country thrives. Remember, Ruf likely put others out of business when he first came to town. To take nothing away from Ruf, opponents fought Lowe’s not because they prefer Do-it Center, but because they have a dream—a dream that the future of their city should look like the past. Unfortunately, it will not.