CALABASAS : Panel Approves Plan for Theater Complex

The Calabasas Planning Commission this week approved the construction of a controversial eight-plex theater, shops, restaurants and other changes to plans for the city’s largest commercial development.

The changes would allow an extra 150,000 square feet of retail space in the planned 1.5-million-square-foot office complex known as Calabasas Park Centre without changing the overall size of the project.

The final decision rests with the City Council, which plans to hold hearings on the matter as early as July.

Some residents near the development south of Calabasas Road between Park Granada and Parkway Calabasas vehemently oppose plans for a theater, which they fear would bring rowdy, young movie-goers carousing through their quiet neighborhoods.

“We are a bedroom community,” said Calabasas Park Homeowners Assn. President Mike Fichera. “We enjoy a great deal of serenity, and this is going to change the character of our lives. This is a disaster waiting to happen.”

The commission voted 3 to 2 at a special meeting Tuesday in favor of the 2,800-seat theater complex, with Commissioners Dave Brown and Allan Cooper calling for fewer seats.

Despite concern over the effects of a shopping center on local traffic and safety, many homeowners have testified at city hearings that the project would be a benefit to the area.

“This is going to be a true community center, where people can go meet and greet,” said Mark Ossala, vice president of Kilroy Industries, a general partner in the project. “There are going to be four sit-down restaurants, places for people to sit and read, movies within walking distance and a safe atmosphere.”

If approved by the council, the developers would begin work on the retail center within 90 days and finish within 11 months, Ossala said.

“The theaters were the most explosive matter of the whole project,” Commissioner Frank Rich said. “It was hard for me to limit its size because of all the security requirements we’re slapping on the developer.”

As approved by Los Angeles County supervisors in 1989 before Calabasas incorporated, the massive Ahmanson/Kilroy project would include only about 50,000 square feet of retail space.

Because of the shrinking demand for office space in the Valley, however, the developer asked the city about a year ago to allow an extra 150,000 square feet of retail space, raise the height limit and extend the time limit on the development agreement from 1999 to 2014.

The commission did not raise the height limit from its current cap of five stories and extended the time limit for the project for up to five years.