City Denies Adventists’ Request to Delay Plan : Newbury Park: Church cites fear of hidden costs. Some believe $100-million development plan crumbling.

Raising doubts about the future of a $100-million commercial development planned for Newbury Park, the Seventh-day Adventist Church asked the city to delay the project’s final public planning session Monday.

But the Thousand Oaks Planning Commission, reluctant to stop the process after three hearings and 15 hours of discussion, voted 3 to 2 to continue debating a portion of the project.

Church officials requested the one-month delay because they fear that millions of dollars in hidden costs could emerge when the city compiles a list of conditions that the church must meet to gain project approval.

“Until we know what the conditions are, we didn’t think it would be wise to move forward,” said Francisco Behr, the architect who designed the 179-acre Wendy Drive project.

A church representative said Monday night he was disappointed with the Planning Commission’s decision. “The church has been a member of the community for 50 years,” said Dale Ortmann, a spokesman for the church. “We ask for a simple request and it was denied.”

City leaders speculate that the attempt to delay proceedings could indicate that plans for the long-debated project are crumbling.

“I’m not going to read into it, but I think they are genuinely re-examining what they want to do,” Councilwoman Judy Lazar said.

Councilwoman Elois Zeanah said she agreed, noting that a letter to the Planning Commission from attorney Chuck Cohen for the Adventists said the church is reviewing financial aspects of the project.

Cohen’s letter said church officials held an emergency session last week to be updated “on matters affecting the project and the cost and feasibility” of proceeding with it.

Zeanah said: “Either they’re playing games, or they have some sincere problems. You have to wonder.”

But Behr insisted there was no hidden meaning in the request for an additional few weeks of review.

The church, he said, has invested more than $3 million in the project and simply does not want to move ahead until the full extent of the city-imposed conditions are known.

Already, Ortmann said revisions to the list of conditions have dramatically increased the cost of the project. Air quality impact fees, initially expected to reach about $800,000, are now expected to be $2.5 million.

Improvements to roads and highways have skyrocketed to $9.5 million. Still unknown are the costs of relocating a fire station, building recreation facilities and a park and installing utilities such as water lines and sewers.

“We’re basically being asked to write a blank check,” Ortmann said. “I can’t advise my client to proceed under these circumstances.”

Despite the commissioners’ decision to debate portions of the project Monday, the two representatives from the Seventh-day Adventist Church opted to leave the hearing--creating potential snags when it comes time for the applicant’s rebuttals.