Yes on Lowe's Measure Z

On Nov. 7, Westlake voters will have to choose between the Town Center with shops, restaurants and a Lowe's home improvement store or a 376,000square-foot, four-story office complex. Voting yes on Measure Z is a vote for the Town Center. Voting no will mean that the land will be developed into an office complex.

If Measure Z does not pass, the city has no influence or control to stop the landowner from developing the full entitlement of office.

In 1989 the owner of the property paid the city over $1 million as part of a development agreement that guarantees the owner's right to build office. While the opposition has tried to convince voters that, because the development agreement expires in 2008, other options may exist for the property, the fact is that the landowner has more than enough time to move forward with development well before the expiration of the development agreement.

Lowe's is a very different type of operation than its main competitor, Home Depot, and does not carry with it the same negatives that a Home Depot would. Voters need to know that the city has made sure that the architecture of the Town Center and of the Lowe's building will be absolutely beautiful. We can be confident that Lowe's and the rest of the Town Center will be appropriate for our city and will meet Westlake's very high standards.

I know that none of us are looking forward to seeing more traffic on our streets. However, regardless of what is built, Town Center or office complex, more traffic is coming.

The City Council has gone to great lengths to ensure that the Town Center project will be a great fit for our community. From prohibiting fast food, to requiring that all restaurants provide valet parking (thus ensuring a higher class of restaurant), to requiring Lowe's to provide a security guard to prevent loitering and day laborers should the city so request, to enforcing the city's tree ordinace, we can all be confident that the Town Center will be a good fit for our city.

Lastly, I believe that the main reason to support Measure Z is that, unlike an office complex, the Town Center will provide added amenities that the people of our town will be able to utilize and enjoy. We are in need of a beautiful gathering place where residents can shop, dine and spend time with family and friends without having to drive a great distance. Another office compex offers nothing to our community.

Please join me and the majority of the Westlake Village City Council in supporting the Town Center by voting yes on Measure Z. Bob Slavin Westlake Village council member

As a long time resident of Westlake Village, I care about the future of my community. The Town Center is the best choice for Westlake Village because it will provide a significant increase in our annual tax revenue. We all want more in the bank to ensure the future of our community and it is my understanding Measure Z also comes with the requirement that Town Center partners donate $1 million for infrastructure improvements. That donation was part of the original proposal that went before the City Council-no one required that it be included in Measure Z.

Opponents want you to believe that the city can simply run out the clock by waiting for the development agreement to expire in April 2008 but this theory overlooks a crucial piece of information-the property is privately owned. The city has no control over the sale of the property and Measure Z is the only option preventing us from seeing another office complex on the horizon.

Learn the facts and talk to city leaders who support Measure Z (the majority of City Council members, former city mayors and former City Council members). These community leaders have our best interest at heart and understand the choice before us.

Voting yes on Measure Z is a vote for the Town Center. If you vote no, please understand that you are voting for an office complex instead. Donna Trouville Westlake Village

The Town Center in Westlake Village as proposed by Proposition Z is a wellthought out, marvelous addition to our fair city.

With the long recognized accomplishment of our City Council to maintain high standards of all of our city accouterments we can rest assured that the Town Center will be a place we will enjoy and take pride in.

Those writers who cite Lowe's in Canoga Park and other such places that have only fast food restaurants and shoe repair shops nearby are making ridiculous comparisons.

This is Westlake Village, for Pete's sake. Where else would you find a Costco that sells MercedesBenz automobiles, Lladro, and upscale small yachts?

Rest assured that the external appearance and merchandise provided by Lowe's will be entirely in consonance with Westlake Village expectations and needs of its citizens and those of our municipal neighbors who will surely patronize the Town Center just as they do all the other businesses in Westlake Village. Lou Gates Westlake Village