Commission wants Target to do more to meet city requests
Proposal sent back to city staff for additional review
By Carissa Marsh cmarsh@theacorn.com

The Simi Valley Planning Commission voted 4-1 last week to refer a proposal to build a Target store at 51 Tierra Rejada Road back to city planning staff because of issues that remain unresolved.

At its June 25 meeting, the commission said it wanted Target representatives to tie up several loose ends, namely those dealing with contested conditions regarding articulation, landscaping, monument signs and storm drainage, before it could give the project approval.

"We're not quite there yet," said Tim Shannon, chair of the planning commission.

The proposed retail development would be on the northwest corner of Madera and Tierra Rejada roads, the site of the closed Kmart store.

Despite sending the project back to the drawing board, commissioners said they see the proposal- which has been in the works for the past three years- as an improvement to what many call a blighted corner of Simi Valley.

"I love Target," Commissioner Mary Bibb said. "I'm a faithful shopper, but I do think you have a lot of issues with (city) staff. When you work those out, I would be happy to approve it."

In spite of its desire to see the project approved, the board said the loose ends were enough cause to give Target Corp. and city staff more time reach an agreement on the project.

"There's too many open ends that we need to bring together, and hopefully it won't take too long to do that because, in the overall picture, I'm very much for the project," Commissioner Keith Mashburn said.

In addition to the 143,828square-foot Target store, the project calls for 9,200 square feet of shops adjacent to the east side of the building facing Madera. Another 7,700 square feet of existing retail space on the west side would be remodeled.

The shopping center would have 651 parking spaces- eight more than required- and a number of traffic improvements are also proposed, including new signal installations, double left-turn lanes on Madera and three bus turnout lanes.

According to Eric Padget, development manager for Target, the store would employ about 250 people.

Padget added that a gatekeeper cart management system would be installed on the property to prevent theft, locking the wheels of any cart that is taken off-site.

Commissioner Jim Dantona called it a "fantastic move."

"I really appreciate the gatekeeper carts," Dantona said. "I know it's an extra cost to do it, but it certainly keeps the community clean."

Like Simi's Town Center, the development would feature Mediterranean-style architecture, with design elements that use stone, earth-toned roof tile, decorative iron bars and vine metal lattices. The building would also have large windows in the entry and cafe and office areas.

According to Target officials, the project is already more than $3 million over budget and would cost even more if the company were to meet the conditions city staff is requesting.

"The cost of this project has exceeded what Target is able to pay," said the project's civil engineer Chris Long, noting that the conditions simply represent more money. "The bottom line is it has to do with cost."

Darren Embry of Casden Properties, which already has approval to build a 266unit residential development cater-corner from the proposed Target, brought up one of the commission's biggest concerns- storm drainage.

Embry asked that Target be required to work with Casden to come to an agreement on the storm drain issue.

Under staff recommendation, Target will connect with the future Madera Road storm drain, which is being designed and installed as part of Casden's residential project. But Target officials said the connection would be too costly- about $300,000 on top of the project's already inflated budget- and not have a significant benefit to the city or the center during larger storms.

"We were pretty much on board with connecting to the Madera drain for a portion of our site until we found out that that drain would prevent us from draining to it at the time when we need it the most," Long said. He added that while Target is working with staff to come to a solution, the corporation cannot be required by condition to connect to Casden's drain.

City staff also request that Target integrate the Arco gas station on the corner of the property into the site's redesign, but the company has not yet pursued that option.

Current plans call for the existing Kmart building to be demolished along with most of the adjoining shops to the west, which would be reconstructed with design features similar to the Target anchor.

Although Dantona thought many of the staff-recommended conditions should stick, he was the lone opposition vote, asking his fellow commissioners to consider pushing the proposal forward since the unresolved issues seemed minor.

"There just seems to be small things, to me, that we could deal with to get them their decision rather than put it off for a month and maybe come back with literally the same stuff," Dantona said. "But if everyone's still of the opinion that staff needs to review this, then I'm still down 4 to 1."

Jean Donahue, a resident of the Friendly Village mobile home park near the proposed home of the new Target, voiced her support of the development. She said it would be a great benefit for the "55 and better" residents in the neighborhood who could easily walk or bike to the store.

"My suggestion would be to approve this as soon as you reasonably can- take care of those few little things- and put it on a fast track" to approval, she said.

The Target proposal will have another public hearing before the planning commission before going on to the City Council for review.

The project does not need approval from the planning commission to get approval from the City Council, but the council will take the commission's opinion into consideration when making its decision.