Schillo Requests Economic Impact Study on Janss Mall Project : Business: Thousand Oaks councilman’s call comes just days before a scheduled vote. Analysis would cost thousands and may delay planned expansion.

Just days before a scheduled vote on the Janss Mall expansion plan, Thousand Oaks Councilman Frank Schillo has requested an economic impact study to evaluate how a bigger shopping center would affect surrounding businesses.

Such an analysis could take months and cost thousands of dollars. But Schillo said he needs to know whether the addition of major chains such as Mervyn’s and Blockbuster Video would drive smaller stores out of business.

The 120-page staff report does not address that issue.

“I don’t know how we can vote on it without an economic impact study,” Schillo said.

The developers have cast their $50-million renovation proposal as a boon to local shoppers, city coffers and owners of the mom-and-pop stores now in the Janss Mall. Several longtime tenants also predict that a spruced-up center will attract more customers and boost everyone’s business.

Yet Schillo said he wants cold facts, not glowing forecasts.

He wants to know, specifically, whether increased rents and sharper competition will fell some entrepreneurs still shaky from the lingering recession.

The city recently required developers of the Seventh-day Adventist property off Wendy Drive in Newbury Park to spend nearly $30,000 on an economic study. Due to be released soon, the study will analyze the expected effect of a proposed regional mall, including a Target store and a discount warehouse.

“Why are we requiring one project to have an economic impact report and not the other?” Schillo said. “What’s the basis? There’s a certain amount of inconsistency there that I would like to address.”

But Schillo’s last-minute request drew ridicule from other council members--and dismay from a Janss Mall representative.

After months of drafting blueprints and negotiating with tenants, the developers had hoped for speedy council approval so they could begin construction in June and complete the face lift by the summer of 1995. Pausing for an economic impact study would throw off that schedule.

“At this late stage in the game, it would create some difficulties, I’m sure,” project manager Steve Phillips said. “I don’t think it’s necessary to do a study like that for an existing mall. We’re not increasing the square footage much, only 25%.”

Mayor Elois Zeanah and Councilwoman Jaime Zukowski agreed that renovations should not require economic impact reports.

Both Zeanah and Zukowski pushed hard for an economic analysis of the Adventist proposal but said they do not need a study to convince them that the Janss Mall expansion will be good for the city.

Schillo’s 11th-hour call for an economic impact report bewildered some business people, who perceive him as generally pro-development.

To his surprise, Chamber of Commerce President Steve Rubenstein found himself supporting Zeanah and Zukowski--the slow-growth council members he usually opposes.

Echoing the two politicians, Rubenstein said he backs the Janss Mall expansion wholeheartedly “because it’s so obvious that what they’re planning will benefit existing tenants and the community.”

Although Schillo couched the issue as a matter of equity--treating the Janss Mall and Adventist developers the same--even the church’s architect said he did not back the councilman’s request.

The Adventists were willing to pay for an economic study because they hope to bring major new commercial development to Thousand Oaks, transforming an equestrian center into a regional mall, architect Francisco Behr said.

But the Janss Mall project will merely expand a shopping center that’s been around almost as long as the city.

“It wouldn’t be fair to impose a study on them now,” Behr said. “It would set a precedent if (council members) require such a significant piece of information at such a late date.”

The council will consider Schillo’s concerns and debate the Janss Mall expansion plan at a public hearing set for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Other major issues include the size and location of mall tenants’ signs. The Planning Commission denied a Mervyn’s request for a prominent free-standing sign and extra-tall lettering on the building, spurring a complaint from the Janss Corp., which said its agreement with Mervyn’s depended on highly visible signs.