City Council Joins the Crowd, Backs Towne Center Mall

Bringing yet another upscale shopping center to the city’s eastern end, the City Council on Tuesday approved the Thousand Oaks Towne Center with little discussion.

The 212,000-square-foot shopping mall, to be located at the southeast corner of Thousand Oaks and Westlake boulevards, will include a Barnes & Noble bookstore, an eight-screen Mann multiplex, a Bristol Farms grocery store and a Noah’s Bagel shop. It is set to open in November.

Developer Rick J. Caruso’s $35-million project benefited from the support of several surrounding homeowners organizations.

Caruso, president of Caruso Affiliated Holdings in Los Angeles, met with residents last year before the designs were even finalized and won their approval after he incorporated some of their suggestions into his mini-mall plan. It was unanimously approved by the Planning Commission earlier this month. The council gave its approval in a 4-0 vote, with Councilwoman Judy Lazar absent.

Councilwomen Elois Zeanah and Jaime Zukowski, who often oppose new development in the city, strongly supported Caruso’s shopping center, saying it was the type of thoughtful growth that Thousand Oaks needed.

“I am so impressed with this developer,” Zeanah said before the meeting. “He has not come before the council to try and break all the rules and skirt the guidelines. He has gone to the residents in the Westlake area and asked them what kind of stores they want.”

Zeanah said other developers had tried to build on the 22.4-acre site, one of the gateways to the city, but had always tried to have building restrictions waived. Caruso was the first to try developing it by the book, she said.

“I don’t see why anyone would want to stop this one,” she said.

Not everyone is smiling about Caruso’s plans, however. Attorneys for the owner of an existing office building adjacent to the development site opposed the Towne Center plan, contending that the shopping mall would cut off entry into the building, therefore lowering its value.

And Councilman Mike Markey, although in support of the shopping center, said he was concerned that the Planning Commission approved the project with too little scrutiny because of the widespread public support.

“We’re talking about a project that has a land-use change and some impacts on oak trees. I would hope that making the public happy is not the only criteria for getting a project approved.”

In approving the shopping center, the City Council amended the city’s General Plan by changing the area’s zoning from industrial to commercial. Council members also will allow Caruso to erect four free-standing monument signs for the mall, transplant three oak trees and plant nine oaks on other parts of the site.

Mayor Andy Fox said that although the project did not meet all Thousand Oaks building requirements, it matched the city’s vision for the area.

“It does involve some amendments,” he said. “It’s not following all the guidelines, but I think it’s appropriate for the area. I’ve heard nothing but positive reviews from the community about this.”

He said developers thinking of coming to Thousand Oaks could learn from the way Caruso won favor with the city’s residents.

“There is a tremendous amount of support for this project,” he said. “If you’re going to do projects in Thousand Oaks, this is the way to do it. People in this city are well-educated. They understand the effect these [developments] have on a community.”