Against offices

The founder and original principals involved in this city's formation had a unique vision, a concept of a complete community culture, designed with integrity of its parts and allowance for conforming adaptation over time. Many parts were to be built at the same time, as they were.

The Town Center's design team has done a masterful job in both the makeup and siting of its various parts. Lowe's home center is almost obscured from view behind the Town Center, and its grade is 10 feet below Russell Ranch Road.

The commitment to four upscale restaurants in the Town Center should be welcome to all, along with retail shops interlaced with landscaping and hardscape patterns. The greenbelt has been increased by approximately 38 percent from requirements.

Should Measure Z fail to pass, we would then see the replacement of the Town Center with a four-story, formidable "box" 376,000squarefoot office complex, approximately 20 feet higher than the Town Center's Lowe's building and three stories higher than the onestory restaurants and retail shops along Russell Ranch Road. An office complex would generate about 550 more cars than the Town Center, or approximately 1,500 car parking spaces added to the possible 1,800 cars of Park Place, impacting this Westlake area during morning, lunch time and evening rush hours.

The overwhelming majority, possibly all, of former City Council members and the founding executive officers of Westlake's developer who still live here support measure Z, as I do. I recommend and urge your support and vote for this measure. Align yourself with the judgments of proven leaders who had the vision and will to create this beautiful place where we live. William Squire Westlake Village