Residents Fight 3-Story Office Plan : Thousand Oaks: Group says proposed complex is more suited to the San Fernando Valley than the Conejo Valley.

A group of 15 Thousand Oaks residents staged a demonstration Friday in an attempt to block a three-story office development on one of the city’s busiest intersections.

The office and retail complex, called One Gateway Plaza, is proposed for the corner of Thousand Oaks Boulevard and Moorpark Road. But opponents say the multistory complex is more suited to the San Fernando Valley than to the semi-rural Conejo Valley.

“They should call this the gateway to the San Fernando Valley West,” organizer and ex-teacher Dick Ferguson said as he held signs urging the City Council to reject the project. “Everything will look like the San Fernando Valley.”

Protesters plan to take their fight to City Hall, where the council will have the final word on the project Tuesday. The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m.

The development is the brainchild of businessman Kirkor Suri and the MOS Limited Partnership.

Their plans call for a 69,900-square-foot office and retail complex, a bank and an underground parking garage on 3.7 acres. One building includes a 61-foot tower.

The developers are seeking a zoning change that would allow them to exceed the city’s 35-foot height limit as well as waivers to permit construction 40 feet from the road. The city usually requires 100-foot setbacks.

About 44% of the site will be covered by buildings, a higher proportion than at other shopping centers, including The Oaks and Janss malls, according to a city staff report.

Ferguson said he believes Councilman Alex Fiore and Mayor Frank Schillo have already made up their minds to approve the project, so he is focusing his efforts on Councilman Bob Lewis.

City officials have postponed three public hearings on the development since early March, twice because Lewis was absent with back problems.

Lewis contends that he and the rest of the council members are still undecided. He said he shares the protesters’ concerns about the project’s impact on traffic and views.

“It’s not a clear-cut yes or no,” he said. “The bottom line is there’s a tremendous amount of things to evaluate.”

The Planning Commission on a 3-2 vote decided to approve the development, despite opposition from Commissioners Irv Wasserman and Marilyn Carpenter.

Those who attended the one-hour demonstration were longtime residents and newcomers who said they were fearful of encroaching urbanization. Some carried signs urging Lewis to vote no.

To illustrate his point, Ferguson held balloons attached to 65 feet of string to demonstrate how the proposed project would tower over surrounding buildings and block views of the surrounding Santa Monica Mountains.

“They just keep making everything bigger and bigger,” said protester Lynn Anne Leach, 43, who carried a sign urging the council to “Keep T.O. Semi-Rural.” “We already have a lot of office buildings and spaces that we can’t rent out.”

Newcomer Laura Dunn, 29, said she and her husband moved from Sherman Oaks three years ago to escape traffic congestion and pollution.

“We’re both from the San Fernando Valley, and we see the kind of mistakes made there,” she said.

Jeff Eichel, 36, of Thousand Oaks stopped to watch the demonstrators but did not attempt to sway the protesters, despite disagreeing with their views. Eichel, an employee with a Simi Valley building firm, said the city needs to encourage development to create more jobs.

“Trying to slow development in the Conejo Valley is a bad idea,” he said. “They missed the boat 20 years ago. This isn’t a country town. It’s a city.”