McDonald’s Blocked by Planners : Thousand Oaks: Commissioners cite traffic, pollution in rejecting the project. An appeal is expected.

Bowing to pressure from residents, the Thousand Oaks Planning Commission early Tuesday morning rejected a third attempt to build a McDonald’s restaurant at the Oakbrook Plaza shopping center.

The commissioners cited concerns about traffic, pollution and litter in their denial of the project.

“This project will increase traffic to the point it can’t be mitigated, and it’s incompatible with the neighborhood,” Commissioner Linda Parks said. The commissioners split 4 to 1 to deny the proposal, with Commissioner Mervyn Kopp voting for the restaurant’s construction.

The question of whether or not to allow a drive-through, fast-food facility at the site of a former Marie Callender’s restaurant drew a standing-room-only crowd to the 100-person-capacity hearing room. An overflow crowd of about 20 people watched the proceedings on monitors from a room nearby.

The attempt marked the third try since 1989 to erect a McDonald’s restaurant at the shopping center, located at the intersection of Avenida de Los Arboles and Erbes Road. Representatives for the property said they would appeal immediately to the City Council.

A proposal to build a Mobil Oil service station in the same center was withdrawn earlier this year in the face of council and neighborhood opposition to the possible noise, pollution and traffic such a station could generate.

Residents clapped and cheered Tuesday as--after 5 1/2 hours of testimony and debate--the votes came in to deny the facility.

“We’ve lost to them 5 to zip before at the Planning Commission,” said George Hees, who lives near the shopping center. “We’re pretty excited. We weren’t expecting this.”

Others quickly added, however, that they plan to assemble even more opponents for the expected appeal hearing before the City Council.

“We’ll be back,” promised Jeff DeVico, Hees’ next-door neighbor.

McDonald’s officials want to purchase the former Marie Callender’s property on the northwest corner of the mini-mall. However, since the 6,900-square-foot building is twice the size of the average McDonald’s restaurant, McDonald’s representatives said they could not recoup their financial investment without adding on a drive-through to the existing restaurant building. Opening the drive-through requires holding public hearings to obtain a special permit.

Commissioners said they worried that the estimated 1,500 extra cars a day generated by the restaurant would tie up traffic at the intersection of Oakbrook Drive and Avenida de Los Arboles, in addition to creating further congestion within the mini-mall parking lot.

Residents and commissioners also expressed concern that McDonald’s patrons would contribute to litter in the area by tossing used wrappers and cartons out of the windows of their vehicles as they finished eating.

Some also worried about smells. Larry Messerschmidt, a McDonald’s corporate representative, assured commissioners that the facility would not generate pollution or cooking smells of any kind. But many residents remained skeptical.

“I live across the street from this,” said Eric Cohen, a resident of Longtree Court, “and I have a problem with pollution-free French fry smells.”

McDonald’s first tried to build a drive-through restaurant on a nearby lot in 1989, gaining approval from the Planning Commission but later losing on appeal before the council. Council members at the time listed many of the same concerns that commissioners mentioned Tuesday in denying the company’s latest attempt.

McDonald’s also filed another request with the city in 1990 but withdrew the application before consideration by the Planning Commission.

Due to the length of the McDonald’s hearing, commissioners postponed until next week a hearing on further regulation of day-care facilities.