Westlake Village : Hearing to Delay PriceCostco Building

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has ruled that construction cannot begin on a planned PriceCostco store in Westlake Village until at least Aug. 14, when a hearing is scheduled on a lawsuit by the project’s opponents.

The ruling, by Judge Robert H. O’Brien, was hailed by PriceCostco opponents.

“It’s a small victory and we’re obviously very pleased,” said Jim Shaw, a spokesman for United Communities Against PriceCostco Inc. “We believe it indicates that Judge O’Brien feels our case at least has enough merit to at least grant us our day in court.”

The lawsuit maintains that an environmental impact report for the project is flawed, and asks the city to prepare a new report. It names the city of Westlake Village, the Westlake Village City Council, PriceCostco Inc. and Richland Properties Limited, a Florida-based developer.

The developers had indicated they wanted to begin construction at the end of July, said Frank P. Angel, a Los Angeles attorney for United Communities. Opponents were afraid, he said, that after construction began, the city would say it was too late to back out.

PriceCostco plans to build a 136,000-square-foot store in a 296,000-square-foot shopping center at Lindero Canyon Road and Thousand Oaks Boulevard. It is part of the Westlake North Specific Plan, approved in 1989, which allows for 1.4 million square feet of offices, business park, commercial uses and condominiums on a 130-acre tract near the Ventura Freeway.

Opponents say that a PriceCostco store will increase traffic, noise and crime, but city officials say Westlake Village is legally bound to approve the project because of a development agreement.

If the city fails to keep its part of the agreement, officials said, it must pay the developer up to $3 million in damages.

PriceCostco officials say the store will generate $1 million annually in sales tax revenues, provide about 200 jobs paying about $30,000 a year, and make it unnecessary for nearby residents to have to commute to other stores in the San Fernando Valley and Oxnard.