During the Nov. 17 City Council meeting, Councilmember Claudia Bill-de la Peña had some questions before she voted against what the other four council members had agreed upon.

“We know that The Lakes is not as successful as it could be . . . but why are we trying to make it more successful when everybody in this down economy is being hit hard. . . . Why are we trying to increase the density to make it more viable?” Bill-de la Peña asked.

“It was our belief and desire to look at ways, through using The Lakes as a resource because it is on property that the redevelopment agency owns, to see if we could get a better stimulus for the whole downtown area,” said Community Development Director John Prescott.

“Why do we need to develop this?” Bill-de la Peña asked.

“We’re a partner with Caruso next door because we own the land, but we also have an extreme self-interest here, not from a sales tax or property tax perspective, but we’re in the theater business. We run the performing arts center, and we want to make sure that theater remains viable and in the black,” said City Manager Scott Mitnick.

The city does so by making sure that the overall businesses around the theater are successful, Mitnick said.

He went on to say that The Lakes is in the black but can’t save the downtown area by itself.

The staff report says The Lakes isn’t making a 12 percent return. Bill-de la Peña asked why The Lakes needs to make a 12 percent return.

“The significance of the 12 percent return is that unless that level is reached by The Lakes, the city doesn’t receive any ground lease payments,” Prescott responded.

When The Lakes was approved for development in the early 2000s it included the city’s payment of more than $1 million to cover developer fees and sidewalks for the project. The city also permits Caruso Affiliated to lease for free land that the city originally purchased for close to $7 million. According to the contract, the city will only get lease payments when the retail center makes at least a 12 percent return.

Bill-de la Peña also said that the Janss Marketplace is in a main corridor of town, has a movie theater and is struggling. She wondered if putting another movie theater on Thousand Oaks Boulevard would have a negative effect on Janss Marketplace, where several of their main stores have closed down and spaces remain vacant.