Council to Consider Museum, Mall Plan

The City Council is scheduled to vote Tuesday on whether to move forward with plans to build a museum and outdoor shopping center on 11 acres next to the Civil Arts Plaza.

The 160,000-square-foot center proposed by Caruso Affiliated would include restaurants, retail stores, outdoor plazas, water fountains and walkways.

The heart of the project would be the Discover Center, a hands-on family museum meant to complement the offerings at the neighboring Civic Arts Plaza.

The City Council is to decide whether to enter negotiations with the developer, which has constructed a number of projects in the Conejo Valley, including the Westlake Promenade.

If the council votes to go ahead, city officials would work with Caruso on finances, site plan, parking, traffic circulation and environmental impacts.

Tom Mitze, the city’s theater director, would oversee the project. Specific details, including cost and construction time, are unclear, but the public will have plenty of opportunity to discuss the plan and share its concerns, Mitze said.

“This is our downtown, so people should have the opportunity to express their opinions,” he said. “Because this is such an important project, and it will be here forever, it is not going to happen overnight.”

In other action, the council is expected to approve the relocation of four oak trees, in connection with a 52-acre subdivision on Rancho Conejo Boulevard.