Environmental impact report on Home Depot available for review
By Nancy Needham nancy@theacorn.com

The public may review a draft of what's called the mitigated negative declaration of the proposed Home Depot in Thousand Oaks through Fri., Feb. 16.

The document, prepared by the community development department, discloses the potential environmental effects of the proposed project and also takes a look at the economic impact.

In the phone book-sized report, drawings of the 96,973-square-foot building and adjacent garden area--smaller than the usual Home Depot--look like a simple rectangular-shaped box, but Thousand Oaks planners are working to change that.

City of Thousand Oaks senior planner Lori Young is in the process of de-boxing the exterior appearance of the proposed Home Depot. She's working with the company to add vertical and horizontal angles to the shape of the building proposed at 325 Hampshire Road, where Kmart formerly did business in Thousand Oaks.

The empty Kmart building would be knocked down, according to senior planner Rick Burgess.

Also under the proposal, Young said, the currently sloped parking lot would undergo grading to make it less steep.

According to the economic impact portion of the report, this Home Depot store is expected to achieve sales of about $54.8 million in 2008 and $55.8 million by 2013.

The trade area has about 141,000 residents and 51,200 households with an average annual income of about $127,000. The average consumer spending at a building materials store is estimated to be $3,200 a year.

The report also proposes that a sound protective wall be built between the store and a convalescent home next door to the site, Burgess said.He also explained that when city staff does an analysis of a developer's application, it doesn't mean the staff is for or against the proposed development.

"We are just doing our jobs," Burgess said.