Home Depot faces one more hurdle

Neither a reason nor a need exists for a second Home Depot store in Thousand Oaks, according to an appeal of the city planning commission's Jan. 26 decision in favor of constructing a new home improvement store on Hampshire Road at the former site of Kmart. Such appeals must take within 10 days of a planning commission decision.

Those appealing the project to the City Council were Michael Wolpert, Moitaba Sedighi, Michael Maders and John Nelson—all Thousand Oaks residents. They're also business owners who stand to lose if Home Depot opens on Hampshire Road.

They also appeared at the Jan. 26 planning commission meeting in opposition to the 97,000square-foot store with an attached 14,000squarefoot outdoor garden center.

"Home Depot is the wrong use and, with its unimpressive box design, the wrong project at this important gateway site," the appeal said.

The new store, according to the appeal, would be an unattractive, unwelcoming image for motorists exiting the 101 Freeway and entering Westlake Village from Hampshire Road. Noise, traffic, light pollution and the loss of a neighborhood shopping center where nearby residents could shop for groceries, medicine and other necessities were among other concerns. It would also cause air pollution, the appeal said.

The home improvement store wouldn't produce taxes or jobs but would just transfer existing revenue and jobs from other businesses in Thousand Oaks, in particular those on Thousand Oaks Boulevard and on other nearby streets that carry the same kind of products, the appeal claimed. Another Home Depot is located in Newbury Park.

The day laborer site, for which the city has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars, would become a wasted expense, the appeal said, since those hoping for work would just walk to the new Home Depot a few blocks away.

About 50 residents who attended the Thousand Oaks Planning Commission meeting in late January opposed the proposed store. About 25 favored it.

Three planning commissioners voted in favor of the demolition of the former Kmart building to accommodate construction of the new Home Depot. Commissioner Barry Fischer opposed it. Commissioner Al Adam recused himself to avoid the "perception of prejudgment toward the applicant," he said.

It will take about two months for the appeal to be heard by the City Council, said city spokesperson Andrew Powers.