Home Depot seeks approval from Chamber of Commerce
By Nancy Needham nancy@theacorn.com

Home Depot representatives went before the Thousand OaksWestlake Village Regional Chamber of Commerce last week seeking approval of plans to build a new store on the old Kmart property at 325 Hampshire Road.

The Chamber hasn't yet decided how it will respond to the request, according to Jan Smith, government and economic development manager for the Chamber.

During the meeting Home Depot representatives presented photos of what the site looks like now, as well as art showing what they hope to make it look like in the future. Site development coordinator Art Lucas referred to the existing piece of land as a vacant property threatened by vandalism and deterioration.

Lucas said that, according to plans, the site would be lowered by about 4 feet to make the parking lot less steep and the building would be 30,000 square feet less than the big box that would usually be put in an industrial area.

The architecture was revised to reduce the big-box appearance. The store would have 10,718 fewer square feet than Kmart had.

Though traffic studies have not been updated and Home Depot representatives cannot provide them for a few weeks, they expect the proposed site to generate fewer daily trips than Kmart would if it were still there today, said company spokesperson Kathryn Gallagher. Key entrances to the store would be widened.

A sound wall would be built adjacent to the senior care facility next door to the site. Trucks would be routed around the back of the store and would not be going through the front parking lot area. Landscaping described as "lush" will exceed city requirements.

To prevent day laborer issues, Home Depot plans to provide onsite security and will prohibit loitering in front of the store. They are hoping the city will enforce the nostopping zone on Hampshire Road, said Richard Greene, Home Depot real estate manager. Representatives estimate the store, if allowed by the city, would bring in about $400,000 annually in sales taxes and would create about 150 new parttime and fulltime jobs locally.

According to information given to the Chamber by Home Depot, public review of the plans will begin in May. The planning commission is expected to address this issue in June. If an appeal is necessary, the City Council will look at it in July. Home Depot hopes plans are approved so that they can begin construction in October and have a grand opening in July 2008.

The company would like to draw customers away from their Newbury Park store, which was designed to serve 50 percent fewer customers than it currently does and is therefore considered overextended. A transference of customers to the Thousand Oaks store would result in better service and stock, Home Depot representatives said.

"We think we will get a positive recommend from the city. For years they've been raking us over the coals," Greene said.

Home Depot is proposing a 95,000-square-foot

store plus a 15,000-square-foot garden center.

Home Depot's usual project is 110,000 to 125,000

square feet, plus a garden center. (The Newbury

Park Home Depot is 125,000 square feet with a

25,000-square-foot Garden Center.)

Home Depot is seeking to tear down all of the existing buildings (the old Kmart and adjoining

10,000 square feet of old retail).

Burger King and the Shell station are not

part of Home Depot's plans.