Project in Busy Area Rejected : Thousand Oaks: One council member balks at a complex she says would ‘urbanize’ a city ‘gateway.’

In a move to protect one of the city’s busiest intersections from overdevelopment, the Thousand Oaks City Council on Wednesday rejected a three-story complex at the corner of Thousand Oaks Boulevard and Moorpark Road.

“This project is a nightmare,” Councilwoman Elois Zeanah said before council members unanimously rejected businessman Kirkor Suri’s request to build 69,900 square feet of offices and retail stores.

“I just cannot vote for a project that would urbanize the main gateway to the city,” she said.

Buildings on the 3.7-acre site would have covered about 44% of the property, exceeding the city’s standards for similar shopping centers.

Suri also requested a zone change allowing part of the complex to rise 26 feet over the city’s 35-foot height limit. The building’s tower would have been four stories high.

The five-hour hearing ended in the early morning hours after critics lashed out against the council for past support of other high-rise projects.

Many of the 21 speakers who addressed the council were longtime homeowners and landowners who say soaring land prices have prompted developers to design buildings better-suited to the San Fernando Valley and downtown Los Angeles.

“Obviously the semi-rural atmosphere that brought us out here is fast coming to a close,” Westlake resident Crosby Fentress told the council.

One prominent Thousand Oaks landowner said the project, called One Gateway Plaza, would encourage other developers to consider putting more buildings on their own properties.

“Should I take it to mean that my Du-par’s project, as approved, is an under-utilization of my property?” said Larry Janss, a property owner who is tearing down the neighboring Du-par’s Restaurant and Bakery to build a small shopping center.

Suri spokeswoman Frances Prince said the triangular shape of the parcel and restrictions imposed by city officials forced the developer to design a taller building than allowed under the current zoning.

Because the project would have generated an additional 4,080 car trips each day, Suri had promised to finance road improvements that would have eased traffic congestion at the intersection, she said.

“This applicant has tried hard to do whatever the city has asked him to do,” Prince said. After the vote, Suri would not comment on his plans for the property.

Suri is one of two developers who have waged and lost land-use battles against citizens groups because their projects were located in “gateways” considered important to the community.

On Feb. 19, the council rejected a 255,000-square-foot shopping center at the corner of Thousand Oaks and Westlake boulevards because of its impact on traffic, air pollution and the views of surrounding mountains.

But some say the semi-rural landscape of Thousand Oaks has already been changed by projects that are on their way to completion.

Less than two miles from the proposed Suri project, a hotel planned as part of a $65-million development on the former Jungleland site is expected to rise seven stories high.

Council members called for policies that would guide developers and the council in reviewing other projects planned for key corridors of the city, including the eastern- and westernmost gateways in Westlake and Newbury Park.

“Some don’t believe we can become another San Fernando Valley,” Zeanah said. “I don’t agree. I think we’re on the threshold.”