Redesign Area Near Arts Plaza, Report Urges : Thousand Oaks: Group backs restaurants, coffeehouses, bookstores and theaters within walking distance of center.

Calling for the new Civic Arts Plaza to be the “functional and symbolic heart” of Thousand Oaks, a group of planners and architects said Tuesday that after-theater restaurants, bookstores and coffeehouses should be built nearby.

A consortium of designers, builders and city planners pulled together by Thousand Oaks-based architect Francisco Behr released a 119-page report that called for redesigning a five-mile portion of Thousand Oaks Boulevard between Rancho Road and Duesenberg Drive.

Invoking writer Gertrude Stein’s “There is no there there” description of Oakland, Agoura Hills-based planner Elwood C. (Woodie) Tescher said “there is no sense of place” in Thousand Oaks.

The group of volunteers called for entertainment-related shops--such as restaurants, coffeehouses, bookstores and movie theaters--located within walking distance of the Civic Arts Plaza.

But the report has also inflamed the passions of several well-established businesses along Thousand Oaks Boulevard and ignited a struggle over the community’s future.

“The concept is fine but they have the wrong place. My husband sells bricks,” said Tina Carlson, who along with her husband has owned and operated Carlson Building Materials Co. since 1946. “We are not a tourist town.”

She said the feed stores and mechanics who populate the boulevard do not need a pedestrian-friendly make-over to attract “espresso carts and tie-dyed T-shirts” to the area.

Carlson said she has the signatures of 66 boulevard store owners on a petition objecting to the report and the group’s effort to redesign Thousand Oaks Boulevard.

“We resent the interference from architects and planners who are going to pick up after this and move to the next project,” she said.

But Behr said all types of businesses can coexist on Thousand Oaks Boulevard.

“There aren’t too many places left in the city where those type of businesses can locate,” Behr said. “It would be entirely appropriate for them to be there.” But Behr said these owners have “a lack of sensitivity for the whole community” when they object out of hand to developing theater-dependent stores around the plaza.

The report released Tuesday said planners should concentrate on attracting pedestrian-friendly businesses immediately around the Civic Arts Plaza while redesigning parking and signage farther down the boulevard.

Tescher called a preliminary plan by Edwards Cinemas to build a 12-screen theater on Thousand Oaks Boulevard about three miles from the Civic Arts Plaza a mistake logistically.

“They should be within walking distance,” he said.

And in a veiled reference to redevelopment efforts in Ventura, he said spending money simply to improve facades “is doomed to failure.” “We are not just going to line Thousand Oaks Boulevard with palm trees,” he said.

Ventura recently spent $3.6 million to widen sidewalks and plant palm trees in its downtown.

Instead of following Ventura’s example, Tescher said, Thousand Oaks needs to encourage development around the Civic Arts Plaza while redesigning signs, storefronts and parking in and around the strip malls that dot the boulevard east of the plaza.

Meanwhile, Michael John Pittas, a planner and architect in private practice, called for a $2.5-million overhaul of Thousand Oaks Boulevard, which would encompass adding more stoplights and landscaped median strips while redesigning parking. Pittas proposed that $1 million in local tax money be used while another $1 million could be found in state and federal transportation coffers. The balance, Pittas proposed, could come form the private sector.

“And none of this work has to be done all at once,” he said.

But others attending the announcement of the report Tuesday criticized some of its conclusions.

“We don’t need cutesy,” said Bob Morrison, who has lived in Thousand Oaks for 57 years and owns several properties along the boulevard.

“You are not going to have people strolling the boulevard--it’s just not going to happen.”

And boulevard bookstore owner Justine Fischer said she fears a loss of business and a rise in her rent if planners succeed in wooing large chains such as Barnes & Noble booksellers to the area.

Behr said the next step is to circulate the report in the city’s business community. Ultimately, he hopes the City Council will some day incorporate all or part of the report into Thousand Oaks’ Specific Plan. Several organizations helped fund the project. The city of Thousand Oaks made a $15,000 donation and contributed some staff members’ time to the report, Behr said.