Pro-Home Depot letters and editorials claim that because we're in a recession, we need a second Home Depot to generate more tax dollars for Thousand Oaks. How simplistic.

Certainly some people who are offended by Home Depot's heavyweight campaign to bulldoze their massive supply chain into Westlake Village won't be generating any tax dollars at any Home Depot locations. Furthermore, there's a distinct possibility the Newbury Park Home Depot will close when Atlantabased Home Depot determines two stores in Thousand Oaks don't improve their revenue stream.

For residents who think the March 31 City Council decision won't affect them, watch closely. Pay attention when planning commissioners make arbitrary decisions about what kind of businesses fit into which zones.

Could the neighbor-friendly C-1 shopping center near you become a mega Sam's Club or super Wal-Mart? Pay attention when traffic studies wiggle to allow for traffic that won't flow. How much more road widening can occur? Who pays for it?

Pay attention when nuisance factors are ignored during the approval processes. Would you want your elderly parent or friend in the senior nursing home that will endure the neverending "beep beep beep beep" noise from Home Depot vehicles offloading/uploading materials at their lumber dock a few feet away?

I believe Thousand Oaks City Council is routinely whacking away at good planning principles by twisting the Thousand Oaks municipal code to overintensify and degrade current standards.

Ugly, congested cities don't happen overnight. They unravel as the combined vision of elected officials is flooded with imaginary dollar signs.

Approving a noisy, tacky Home Depot at Hampshire and Foothill will ruin the peaceful nature and character of this Westlake Village community.

And there's no reason to believe people will spend more because Thousand Oaks has two Home Depots. Janet Miller Wall Thousand Oaks

Wall previously served on the T.O. Planning Commission.