Developer Seeks Community Input

Taking a cue from another Thousand Oaks developer, a group looking to build an upscale shopping center on Westlake Boulevard will meet with residents today to gauge their feelings about the project.

Developer Dave Dollinger, land-use attorney Chuck Cohen and architect Francisco Behr will meet with the Westlake Joint Board of Homeowners’ Assns. All Conejo Valley residents are welcome to attend the meeting at 8 p.m. at the North Ranch Community Center.

The group wants to build a shopping center across the street from developer Rick J. Caruso’s 212,000-square-foot Thousand Oaks Towne Center project, which was approved Tuesday by the City Council. Caruso gathered the support of the Westlake board after he met with residents before his design plans were even final and let residents suggest changes.

Now Dollinger is taking the same approach, said board President Cathy Schutz.

“They’ve seen the success Mr. Caruso had, and they realize that it’s a smart thing to do,” Schutz said. “We want to make sure that citizens get a chance to get some input on this plan early on.”

The project, which would be built on a 10-acre site on the southwest corner of Westlake and Thousand Oaks boulevards, is expected to be about 100,000 square feet, or half the size of the Towne Center, Behr said.

“It basically builds on the project across the street,” Behr said. Dollinger “is not looking to compete with the Caruso project. He’s looking for a different tenant mix.”

Tenants secured for the project include Ethan Allen Furniture, a Boston Market rotisserie chicken restaurant and an Italian restaurant called Piapti’s, Behr said.