Group will oppose Home Depot in T.O.
By Nancy Needham nancy@theacorn.com

A group of residents unwilling to have their quality of life compromised so Home Depot can build another warehouse store in Thousand Oaks got together last Friday night.

The Village Homes clubhouse was packed with people who wanted to know what could be done to stop Home Depot from building on Hampshire Road on the site where Kmart was.

Thousand Oaks resident Jim Aidukas, Agoura/Oak Park/Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce President Louis Masry and organizer Nino DeFranco brought charts, photos and PowerPoint exhibits to explain their view of the situation.

To begin with, the site Home Depot wants to build on isn't zoned for a warehouse store--and warehouse is how Home Depot describes itself, Aidukas said. The area is zoned as C-1 and should be used for stores that serve those in the neighborhood, like a grocery store, hair salon, restaurant, dry cleaners or other shops benefiting nearby residents, he said.

"I would like to see a smaller grocery store with restaurants and less traffic," Jean Dolan of Thousand Oaks said.

One of the group's bigger challenges, Aidukas pointed out, is that Mayor Andy Fox and other members of the City Council are welcoming Home Depot to the site when all the research into how a warehouse store will impact the area hasn't yet been done. A more thorough environmental impact report is needed, he said, and city officials seem to be glossing over that.

"The five-page traffic report is basically only a letter," Aidukas said.

With drawings, he showed how he thinks large trucks will block two lanes of traffic at least 25 times a day going into the site. He estimated 7,000 trips a day to the Home Depot, which is 2,000 more trips a day than the city's report estimated. Aidukas also pointed out the distance from the proposed driveway into the Home Depot site isn't far enough from the 101 Freeway onramp as required by California Department of Transportation.

There are also air quality control issues regarding a nearby daycare center that could be negatively impacted with diesel fuel emissions, he said.

Noise issues are also a concern, Aidukas noted. Cooling systems on top of the store will add noise, as will a loud paging system inside the building that can be heard about 300 feet away from the store, he said. "Go outside the Newbury Park Home Depot and listen," Aidukas said.

Other concerns are that the proposed 32-foot-high wall could be dangerous and the light fixtures proposed for the site will glow in the sky, Aidukas said. He also questioned how high the store will actually be.

"Nowhere in any of the documents I've seen does it say how high the elevation will be," he said.

The city requires buildings to be an average 35 feet high maximum, but if much of the structure is 20 feet high, the highest point could be more than 35 feet, Aidukas said.

Also, the former Kmart automotive center might have left soil contamination. That could affect what needs to be done regarding cleanup of the tons of dirt to be removed as the site is lowered through grading, he said.

A push must be made for an environmental impact report instead of just a mitigated negative declaration, Aidukas said.

Louis Masry, president of the Agoura/Oak Park/Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce, pointed out that Hampshire Road was never designed for the high traffic a Home Depot would bring. Much of the tax revenue from Home Depot would be taken away from other T.O. companies that would be put out of business, he said.

More than 30 businesses on Thousand Oaks Boulevard would be directly competing with Home Depot, Masry said. He said other businesses will also be affected.

"Our Chamber has come out against Home Depot because it hurts small business," Masry said.

Many small-business owners are residents who provide support for schools and sports teams, Masry said. Having a bigbox store kill independently owned stores will affect the small-town atmosphere, Masry said.

"Home Depot doesn't necessarily have the lowest prices or the best selection," Bryan Sperkoski of Thousand Oaks said. "I don't want it here. If I need something from Home Depot, I can drive seven miles up the road to the other one."

"If I was selfish, I would want it there, but I have to think long term," said DeFranco, who goes to Home Depot every other day for his business needs.

He suggested those who oppose the Home Depot at Hampshire Road should show up at meetings, fill up city hall and write letters to editors.

"It can be stopped," DeFranco said.