Developer gets ultimatum from city of T.O.

The banging on Thousand Oaks Boulevard near Erbes Road has got to stop, according to a letter the city sent last week to the developer of a hillside site being graded for an upscale shopping center. The developer has been asked to find another way to break through the extremely hard rocky hillside and to create a realistic timetable for completion of the project.

For nearly a year RDD Properties of Newbury Park has been trying to clear the rock. Known as blue rock, it’s so difficult to break that traditional grading techniques, using bulldozers and backhoes, are useless. Expensive drilling and blasting are often required instead.

To help break down the rock, the developer is pre-drilling it to make it easier to fracture, using a hydraulic ram process.

City officials have received ongoing complaints about excessive noise from residents and businesses in the area of the work site.

“The main concern is the noise. It’s as loud or louder than the freeway and it’s continuous all day,” said city engineering division manager Tom Pizza, adding that the banging can be heard outside of city hall about a quarter of a mile away from the project site.

In July, in an effort to minimize the noise, the city reduced the developer’s work hours. Instead of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., the hours were changed to 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

“Us reducing the hours takes them longer to complete the work,” Pizza said.

Long-term permits are issued to cover different phases of a project, and the allowable grading permit time for this project doesn’t expire until next July.

Although acknowledging that the developer has been cooperative and responsive, city officials say another way must be found to clear the rock.

“The rock is very hard. The equipment breaks down, so it is difficult for them to estimate,” Pizza said.

The developer has an architect working to come up with some alternative solutions.

“We are calling around the country to see if anyone else has any other ideas,” said Roger Meyer, co-owner of RDD Properties.

The grading was to have been completed in March, but the tough rock surface has extended the project. Meyer expects the grading to be completed in about a month. He says about 94 percent of the grading is done.

But Mark Watkins, the city’s interim public works director, says the project has become a nuisance. He sent a letter to RDD requesting a realistic construction schedule.

“They keep saying it’ll be another month, but that’s not true,” Watkins said. “What it actually means is not this month.”

Meyer says he understands everyone’s frustration but that he’s doing the best he can in a difficult situation. He says he has spoken to homeowners and apologized for the noise. He’s used water to try to muffle the hammering sound and plans to speed the project up as much as possible.

“I am throwing money at it and really trying every which way I can to save any extra hammering,” Meyer said. “If I knew it would be this difficult, I probably wouldn’t have done it (the project).”

Before any grading began last fall, a geologist was hired to evaluate the site. At the time the geologist said there was a “vein” of hard rock on the site but no one realized how extensive the bedrock actually was.

The site is a little over two acres, more than half of which has been dedicated to the city for use as a greenbelt. The rest will contain the 18,000-square-foot retail center, which will include four to eight stores. Talks are underway with the owner of a fine dress shop that may move into the center, as well as with furniture and jewelry stores. It will take about seven months to build once the grading is completed said Darryl Zilberstein, co-owner of RDD Properties.

“It will get done and it will be one of the prettiest centers in town,” Zilberstein said.