Lowe’s may be coming to town.

The Thousand Oaks Planning Commission approved on Monday a developer’s plan to build a 20-acre shopping center on vacant property on Wendy Drive near Grande Vista Drive in Newbury Park.

Plans include the construction of a 153,000-square-foot Lowe’s home improvement store that includes a garden center.

After the unanimous vote, Commission Chair Tina Grumney congratulated Tab Johnson of Rich Development, representing Lowe’s, and David Filips, project manager for property owner Seventh-day Adventist Church.

“We look forward to having Lowe’s in Thousand Oaks,” Grumney said.

The church owns about 450 acres in the area and is working with the developer to build the shopping center. The church plans to sell parcels to retailers that will occupy the center, which is expected to have a 40,000-squarefoot retail store and two 4,000- to 5,000-square-foot pads for a bank and a fast-food restaurant. Occupants have yet to be announced.

Seventh-day Adventist is also donating 245 acres behind the proposed shopping center to the Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency.

Two years ago, Costco Wholesale had proposed constructing a store about the same size as the Lowe’s store at the same location.

But in January 2009 the proposal was taken off the City Council agenda, with a Costco official citing failure to reach a lease agreement with the property owner.

The original development plan for the area, approved by the planning commission and City Council in 1996 and modified in 2006, called for the church to build a foundation for a new fire station on Hillcrest Drive near Lawrence Drive to replace Ventura County Fire Department Station 35.

In the amended plan the commission approved earlier this week, the church will pay to relocate the Hillcrest station.

Planning Commissioner Barry Fisher asked Assistant Fire Chief Rod Megli if he felt the city was treating the county fire station like “a ping-pong ball.”

Megli said no and that he thinks moving the station would be in the best interests of fire protection for the community.

Commercial property owners in the area are paying to widen the Wendy Drive freeway overpass. The church will pay 42 percent of that cost along with the expense of widening the northbound 101 Freeway on- and off- ramps at Wendy Drive.

Commissioner Al Adam said he welcomed the development. The property sports old asphalt roads, neglected housing pads and nonnative vegetation, he said.

He also said that, compared with the plan the commission and City Council approved four years ago, this plan has improved traffic flow and street access, and architecture that blends better with the natural surroundings.

The new plan calls for the relocation of several oak trees and the addition of 24 new ones.

During the meeting, Grumney asked city planner Claudia Pedroso if she’d received any calls about the project from the public. Pedroso said she hadn’t received any complaints but had a few calls from people asking what was being proposed for the lot.

Grumney then asked Johnson why Lowe’s would build a store so close to a competitor. A Home Depot is a half-mile away from the proposed Lowe’s store.

Johnson said the two home improvement giants draw different customers—Home Depot is contractor oriented and Lowe’s decorator oriented. The two businesses could capitalize on the “synergy” of being in close proximity to each other, Johnson said.

The plan must go before the City Council for approval. Johnson said that could happen in February.