Janss Mall Lawyers Challenge Claims

Lawyers for Janss Marketplace are set to ask a judge today to dismiss the claims of seven mall merchants who allege the mall used a “corrupt scheme” to pay for a series of expensive, city-sponsored construction bonds.

The judge may also reduce the scope of the lawsuit--in which plaintiffs allege they could be overcharged more than $80 million in rent--and severely limit its claims. The judge could order the merchants to rewrite their complaint, though their attorneys say they expect their case to go forward.

“We don’t expect the judge to do anything that would put the case in serious jeopardy,” attorney David Merrihugh of Westlake Village said.

Lawyers for Janss Marketplace declined to comment on the suit Tuesday.

The suit alleges shopping center operators persuaded merchants to sign leases without telling them they would have to pay as much as $80 million in higher rents over several decades. That amount is to cover $30 million in construction bonds the mall used to build a new parking deck.

The suit also says a Ventura County Grand Jury has already ruled the bonds were probably issued illegally, because they were special low-interest bonds sponsored by the city that are usually only reserved for “public benefit,” such as to build schools, bridges and libraries.

“I understand charging tenants the cost of expenses, or special promotions, but I shouldn’t pay for something like a parking deck that I don’t own,” said Dan Kupper, owner of Chaos Skate and Surf Shop, one of the plaintiffs.

The Janss Marketplace, built in the 1960s as the Janss Mall, is the city’s oldest shopping center. Its previous owner approached the city in 1993 about renovations, and two years later Thousand Oaks issued the special low-interest construction bonds.