Counter Point Half the council opposes Lowe's

Last week The Acorn published a letter from Councilwoman Phillipa Klessig headlined "City gives take on Lowe's." Clearly, she is entitled to her perspective, but by no means does her perspective represent "the city's," as the piece claims, nor is it appropriate to say that it represents the City Council majority.

In fact, the council never ap- proved the project, and the final vote-a 2-2 deadlock-was the re- sult of more than a year of research, countless hours of debate, and sev- eral town hall meetings where the council heard from more than 200 Village residents. Further, the coun- cil did not agree to certify the envi- ronmental impact report, which clearly stated that traffic and air quality caused by this project "could not be mitigated."

I believe a "no" vote on Mea- sure Z will protect our beloved city and enable us to create a true Town Center designed in a manner con- sistent with our village concept.

To begin with, a Lowe's will only bring more traffic from the Valley and a large area outside our borders. Roughly 93 percent of this mega center's customers will come from outside our village.

Additionally, the measure gives the developer special benefits and control the likes of which no other property owner or developer has garnered in the history of our city. The conditions, design layout, and uses are locked in for perpetuity, and if new issues arise, for ex- ample noise or air pollution, day laborer impacts and/or traffic gridlock, the city cannot require the developer to do anything with- out calling for a special costly elec- tion each time a change is needed.

Councilwoman Klessig's edito- rial assertion that the council crafted the 108 final conditions the promot- ers have included in the measure is a distortion of the facts. In fact, a number of issues were raised dur- ing the public hearing process that would have led to new and modi- fied conditions to mitigate the ad- verse impacts of this intensive project.

Next, this type of proposed commerce is unjust for the Renais- sance and Canyon Oaks residentsHow it would feel waking up to the sound of forklifts and the scent of diesel fumes? And at 6 a.m. on weekends, no less?

For those of you who may want to vote in favor of Measure Z as you believe the development of Lowe's represents the lesser of two evils (the other being office devel- opment), my experience in eco- nomic analysis and land-use plan- ning tells me that the developer's office-space argument is oversim- plified and baseless.

For example, the city of Thou- sand Oaks recently approved the development of more than 460,000 square feet of pricey office space on Townsgate and Lakeview Can- yon roads. Coupled with the newly constructed 180,000 square feet of high-end offices built just south of the proposed Lowe's site, Westlake will soon have 640,000 square feet of leasable office space. Can the market absorb the threatened "re- ality" of an additional 387,000 square feet of offices on the Lowe's site? Do you think the greater Westlake area can absorb 1 million square feet of offices?

Let me first say a passive of- fice park is by far the least inva- sive for the immediately contigu- ous residents.

But if we wait until April 2008 when the entitlements end, we could sit down and totally redesign and rezone this parcel. All bets will be off and we can start from scratch. We will be under no obli- gation to honor the current devel- opment agreement because it will have expired.

You may ask what would hap- pen if Lowe's is defeated and an office developer steps forward be- tween now and April 2008? In or- der to beat the deadline, a devel- oper would have to accomplish an inordinate task, including but not limited to--finding a buyer, select- ing an architect, completing the plan permitting process and secur- ing a finance package--all before the expiration date. Additionally, California law requires that "sub- stantial work" on the project must be completed before the entitle- ments are vested. Therefore, I ask anyone who fears the development of an office complex to carefully evaluate what's real and what is highly improbable.

In sum, a "big box" is big, even if you call it something else. Lowe's betrays the spirit and char- acter of Westlake Village. I urge you to protect a special way of life and to preserve the integrity of the general plan that has served us so well for the past 25 years. A "no" vote on Measure Z will give the city an opportunity to create a true "village style" town center if that is what you, the voter, desire.