VENTURA : Developer Submits Plan to Build Discount Store

Developers want to construct a jumbo version of Kmart on Victoria Avenue across the street from the existing Kmart and the Trader Joe’s grocery store, Ventura city officials said.

The Super K store is Kmart’s version of the massive, discount retail store typified by Wal-Mart, city officials said. Developers just submitted plans for the store last week, so any final city decision on construction of the store is months away, officials said.

The proposal could be hindered, however, by the substantial traffic mitigation fees the city imposes on any developer trying to build on that site, Councilman Jim Monahan said. In the case of Super K, those fees, which pay for improvements at the interchange of the Ventura Freeway and Victoria Avenue, would come to about $910,000, city officials said.

“We’ve had many applications on that site,” he said. “But when it comes to traffic mitigation fees, they choose to run the other way. That’s why we’ve scared off so many prime developers.”