Village development finally okayed

After 10 years of public meetings, workshops and the courts, the Agoura Hills City Council last week adopted the Agoura Village Specific Plan and approved a final environmental impact report for the proposed commercial and residential development on the south side of the 101 Freeway.

The unanimous decision provides property owners with a framework to build retail, commercial and residential projects in the 135-acre swath of land along Agoura Road, mostly east of Kanan Road.

Senior Planner Allison Cook said the plan is not a specific development, but a set of guidelines for developers, who are still requried to submit their applications to the city, obtain approval by the planning commission, and perform separate environmental, traffic and noise studies before they start their construction.

Mary Wiesbrock, chair of Save Open Space, ecnouraged the City Council to consider a reduction in the scale of the overall project.

She referred to a citizens' survey that demonstrated concern over traffic, water supply and safety issues.

"(Agoura Village) will become a place the community will avoid," Wiesbrock said.

But Ed Corridori, the former Agoura Hills mayor, said, "What would we get without the Agoura Village plan? Two words—Victory Boulevard.

"The worst kind of density is sprawl. Agoura Village is probably the most vetted planning ever done in this city," Corridori said.

Councilmember Denis Weber agreed, stating that without a guiding document, the density of the village redevelopment would greater.

Councilmember Harry Schwarz explained that the village plan is meant to "get people out of their cars to walk" to reduce traffic.

"Can we make it a tiny project? No," he said.

Councilmember Dan Kuperberg said the plan allows the city to tell to developers how the area should look.

"This is where the future of the city will be," Kuperberg said.

Mayor John Edelston said the plan will spur cooperation among developers.

"We wanted to move away from fragmented, hodgepodge kind of development," Edelston said.

Regarding concerns from citizens about the possible loss of open space, City Attorney Craig Steele said that according to the Agoura Hills General Plan, the city cannot convert open space into a commercial development without a vote from the citizens.

Edelston said developers will contribute more to the city's open space inventory with the plan in place than without it.