Paving paradise to put in a parking lot makes no sense to Thousand Oaks resident Garrett Wong.

But his objection to the city’s plans to replace 16 parallel parking spaces in front of The Lakes retail center with 26 angled parking spaces was about more than just “paving paradise.”

Wong disapproves of the council’s continued subsidization of a private business struggling to operate on city property. The retail center’s owner pays $1 a year in rent. Wong also disagreed with the city paying a consultant almost $100,000 to study why The Lakes isn’t as successful as the city thinks it should be.

“Lack of business means people don’t want what you’re selling,” Wong said.

The City Council voted 4-1 on May 11 in favor of adding the angled parking at an estimated cost of $230,000 for construction.

The center’s owner, Caruso Affiliated, agreed to pay up to $100,000 after Mayor Dennis Gillette asked the company to cover half the cost.

Councilmember Claudia Billde la Peña cast the dissenting vote.

“I am astounded tonight that we are throwing more good money after bad,” she said.

The city of Thousand Oaks has spent $77,970 on design costs on top of the $230,000.

The Concord Group, a San Francisco-based real estate consulting firm, was paid $96,500 to figure out ways to improve business at The Lakes. The angled parking, a movie theater and a parking structure were among the consultant’s suggestions.

Rick Lemmo, Caruso Affiliated senior vice president, took exception to those who included the consultant fee with the expense of the 10 new parking spaces.

“It’s not a $400,000 project,” Lemmo said.

He said the angled parking was a benefit to the district and a “great pilot program for the boulevard” that would “actually make it safer” and more pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly.

He called The Lakes’ design a “serious mistake by council.”

“The public doesn’t like to park in the back,” he said.

Lemmo said the angled parking out front, which will require the removal of grass and an oak tree, will make the area look like a place where “commerce is done—not a nice park.”

“No one knows this is a place of business,” Lemmo said.

Three oak trees would be purchased to replace the one removed, as required by a city ordinance.

Councilmember Andrew Fox said The Lakes’ difficulties are a result of “shortsighted downsizing by City Council.” He said that when the shopping center was originally approved, the council at that time took away square footage, reducing the potential size of the center.

Councilmember Jacqui Irwin agreed. “It should’ve been much larger,” she said.

City Manager Scott Mitnick said the area was zoned for a 400,000-square-foot project but the original proposal was for a 200,000-square-foot structure.

Currently, the 50,000-squarefoot retail center brings in about $175,000 a year in sales and property taxes. If it were 200,000 square feet, Mitnick said, it would bring in about $1.1 million a year, what he called a conservative estimate.

That’s a loss of about $825,000 a year, he said.

Caruso Affiliated is under contract to not pay more than $1 a year rent to its landlord, the city, until it makes more than an 8 percent profit.