Creek Flow Cramps Plans for Center

The architect working on the proposed Creekside Center project said it was “financially and physically unfeasible” to keep the natural flow of Lindero Creek intact if the project is to be built.

“We did a number of studies to see if we could make that work, but we couldn’t,” said David Rhodes, principal architect at Excell Architects, which is designing the shopping and entertainment center, at a joint meeting of the Agoura Hills City Council and Planning Commission on Wednesday night.

Since the meeting was set up as an information session only, little opinion was expressed by the panel on the merits or deficiencies of the project, planned for the southwest corner of Agoura and Kanan roads.

If approved, Creekside Center would be anchored by an eight-screen, 2,000-seat Mann Theater and would have five retail shops and five restaurants.

The center, also being called Ladyface Village, would occupy 16.6 acres on the corner of a 151-acre site at the foothills of Ladyface Mountain.

The remaining acreage would be set aside for open space.

Much of the discussion centered on the rechanneling of Lindero Creek. About 700 feet of the creek currently lies in the way of the proposed development.

Panel members also questioned Rhodes about parking.

The project, with 912 parking spaces, is a few stalls short of the minimum required. And though the city’s traffic engineer said he was comfortable with the amount of parking, the council members and commissioners were hesitant, saying that another Mann Theater in the area has insufficient parking.

The development would affect the area in several ways, including interruption of creek flow, infringement on a rare plant species and the deficiency in parking spaces, according to a draft environmental impact report.

City Planning Director Dave Anderson said developer Vance Moran is in discussions with the city to lessen those impacts.