Scaled-Down Plans Proposed for Center

An environmental study is underway on a proposed scaled-down commercial center in Agoura Hills that would include an eight-screen movie theater, city officials said.

Developer Vance Moran said Tuesday he will submit plans to the city later this month for his 87,000-square-foot Creekside Terrace project, which would be built on 11 acres of a 151-acre plot at Kanan and Agoura roads. City officials said that Moran has offered to set aside the remaining 140 acres as open space.

An earlier proposal by Moran to build a PriceCostco outlet on the site drew widespread community opposition.

After an environmental study is completed in September, the latest project would be brought before the Planning Commission, said Mike Kamino, Agoura Hills’ senior planner. Moran estimates construction would take about a year.

The Agoura Hills-based developer’s plans include five restaurants, which would take up 23,500 square feet; six retail shops, to utilize 27,500 square feet, and a 36,000-square-foot theater.

Moran said the $15 million-complex would have what he called an “early California” architectural style.

He said he has signed a long-term lease agreement with Mann Theatres to operate the theater. Mann Theatres currently operates another eight-screen theater about a block away on Agoura Road.

The project would require a conditional-use permit, city officials said, because it is located in the Ladyface Mountain Specific Plan, which was drafted in part to preserve the area’s scenic beauty.

Kamino said Moran’s original plans, submitted in 1989, called for a commercial and residential project at the site, but over time, those plans evolved into the current proposal. The controversial PriceCostco store was one of the plans proposed along the way.

Moran said he expects to more easily obtain permits for his scaled-down plans.

“I feel like we’re on the way now,” he said. “I really feel like this development will go through.”