Shopping Center Owner Files Claim Over Rejected Plans

Charging that city leaders have been discriminatory and unfair, the owner of a Newbury Park shopping center has filed a $7-million claim against Thousand Oaks for rejecting its expansion plans.

The Newbury Park Group contends that when City Council members denied the group’s plans to renovate and expand the Newbury Park Center in June, they did so in an arbitrary fashion.

That amounts to a “de facto taking without payment or compensation” that is a violation of both the state and federal constitutions, the group’s lawyer, John Randolph Haag, argued in the claim. In a practical sense, the council’s decision has cost the shopping center many of its tenants, he argued.

He could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Council members unanimously rejected the plan to expand the shopping center at Newbury Road and Giant Oak Avenue because it would call for grading a hillside behind the present buildings and removing several oak trees. However, the council did so “without prejudice,” meaning that the developer has an opportunity to resubmit an amended proposal.

City Atty. Mark Sellers said he had not determined what advice he would give the City Council regarding the claim.

“The issue comes down to: If the city doesn’t want to allow any grading there, the developers are going to have a real problem developing the site,” Sellers said.

The $7 million represents a loss of potential profit from the property, a loss in property value, and loss of past and future rent and tenants.

Haag argues in the claim that the Newbury Park Group, which bought the property in 1989, spent more than $400,000 on its plans for redevelopment. The shopping center is part of a redevelopment zone.

He contends that the Newbury Park Group’s plan “substantially met” all city codes, standards and guidelines, and was supported by city planners--a position that some city leaders dispute.

The expansion would have meant demolition of the shopping center’s existing stores in stages, replacing them with 91,000 square feet of retail space spread over seven buildings. The largest was to house a multiplex movie theater run by CinemaStar Luxury Theaters of Oceanside.

Last year, Thousand Oaks’ Planning Commission deadlocked 2 to 2 on the proposal, with one member abstaining, before council members sent the developer back to the drawing board.

Haag said the Newbury Park Group was put in a financially devastating position by the city’s actions because many of the shopping center’s old tenants and prospective new tenants went elsewhere.

He estimated that the Newbury Park Center now has about 30% occupancy, down from 95%, and is still dropping.

Councilwoman Elois Zeanah said the Newbury Park Group has not been treated differently from any other developer. She characterized the claim as a blatant money grab by a builder unwilling to work within the city’s strict regulations to protect hillsides and oak trees.

“It seems to me to be very frivolous,” Zeanah said of the claim. “I would think the developer would be pleased to be denied without prejudice. The developer has a chance to come back to us. We didn’t require anything of the developer that we don’t require of other developers.

“It sounds like [the Newbury Park Group] is not interested in development any more,” she added. “It sounds like the developer is just interested in money from Thousand Oaks.”