Supporters want Lowe's on November ballot

Charles Rotkin Old wounds in Westlake Village were reopened last week following a surprise announcement that the Lowe's big box store might be put to a vote of the people in November.

Supporters of the Lowe's Town Center introduced a ballot measure to the Westlake Village City Council calling for a citywide vote on the controversial project. The council rejected Lowe's in January when four members returned a split decision on whether or not to rezone the 22-acre parcel on Russell Ranch Road from office to commercial.

Councilmembers Philippa Klessig and Mark Rutherford voted in favor of the zoning change, while Mayor Sue McSweeney and Mayor Pro Tem Jim Bruno were against it. Bob Slavin abstained from the voting because his ownership of some nearby office property was seen as a conflict of interest.

Even though Lowe's failed to gain approval, the city council never formally denied the project and left it in a state of bureaucratic limbo.

Kris Carraway-Bowman, a former mayor and longtime city council member in favor of Lowe's, submitted a ballot measure on April 12 that would allow the project's future to be determined by a vote of city residents.

"They're obviously trying to do an end run around the council," said Jonathan Greenspan, a leading Lowe's opponent. "They're preempting the council and trying to take away the council's power to control (the project)."

The measure will be placed on the November ballot if it receives signatures from 10 percent of the registered voters in Westlake Village.

"Since the city council vote, residents have written, called and even stopped us on the street to voice their disappointment and ask what could be done to make the (Lowe's) Town Center a reality," Charles Rotkin of Rotkin Real Estate Group, the lead developer of the project, said in a press release.

The $45-million development includes a 168,000-square-foot Lowe's hardware store at the site just north of the 101 Freeway near Lindero Canyon Road.

In addition to Lowe's, Rotkin had submitted plans to develop 62,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space, as well as a 20,000-square-foot high-end car dealership.

The alternative to the project would be a 376,000-square-foot, four-story office complex, planners said.

Proponents of the Town Center estimate the retail space will bring in an annual $750,000 in sales tax revenue, compared to an estimated $100,000 in revenue from the office complex.

The Town Center developers also agreed to donate $1 million to the city of Westlake Village for improvements such as decorative crosswalks, public art and ornamental streetlights.

A report from the developer suggested the Lowe's project would cause less congestion than the office complex since traffic would be dispersed throughout the day rather than concentrated at morning and afternoon rush hours.

Opponents objected to the project's overall size and bristled at the thought of the big box store getting a second chance in Westlake.

"They continue to misrepresent the project by saying traffic will be less with an office complex because it is spread out during the day," Greenspan said. "It's like the old game where if you repeat a lie long enough, you hope it becomes true, but their claim just isn't true."