WESTLAKE VILLAGE : Council Approves Plan for Price Costco

Despite threats of a recall and lawsuits, the Westlake Village City Council approved Thursday a proposal for a Price Costco store that the mayor had once characterized in a newspaper story as a “done deal.�

The vote came in the wee hours after a stormy hearing that was interrupted more than once by noisy protesters outside the packed council chambers.

Mayor Kenneth Rufener--who says he was misquoted in the newspaper--finally asked sheriff’s deputies to quiet the protesters.

At various points, Rufener had to bang his gavel to silence the crowd, which responded with jeers to many of his and other council members’ remarks.

“The vast majority of the people--the citizens of Westlake Village--oppose the project,� said one opponent, David Woodruff, a 20-year resident of the area. “The law of averages tells you that this gathering represents your constituency.�

A few speakers spoke in favor of the plan.

“Thank goodness the City Council had the good business sense to know what’s good for the city,� said Barbara Fentress.

Price Costco has proposed a 136,000-square-foot store that would be part of a 296,000-square-foot shopping center at Lindero Canyon Road and Thousand Oaks Boulevard. It is part of the Westlake North Specific Plan, approved in 1989, which allows for 1.4 million square feet of office, business park, commercial uses and condominiums on a 130-acre tract near the Ventura Freeway.

Backers say the outlet would be a boon, generating up to $1 million annually in sales tax revenues.

Price Costco officials say it would provide as many as 200 jobs, each paying an average of about $30,000 a year. The community, the company says, would also benefit by not having to drive to Oxnard or the San Fernando Valley to get to their stores, which offer a discount over regular supermarkets.

Opponents say that though they realized the area was earmarked for development, a discount outlet was not what they had in mind. They say they fear that the store will increase traffic, noise and crime.

Rufener and other city officials said the development agreement requires the city to pay up to $3 million in damages if it fails to follow through with its part of the arrangement.

Some of the opponents suggested putting the matter before voters, but Rufener disagreed. “You don’t run a city like that,� he said. “If you don’t like what your elected officials do, you can vote them out.�

Opponents, meanwhile, have not given up the fight. They plan to meet Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Westlake Village Inn Restaurant to discuss what to do next.

“We are going to mount a recall; that’s No. 1,� said Frank Abundis, a spokesman for Conejo Citizens Against Price Costco. He said the recall will target Rufener, Doug Yarrow Berniece Bennett and Kris Carraway. James Emmons, who abstained, will not be targeted, Abundis said.

Abundis said his group is also studying the idea of trying to get an injunction to block the project, which Rufener said could be completed by next spring.