5 VIE TO SET TONE FOR AGOURA HILLS; CITY'S GROWTH STYLE IS TOP ISSUE.Byline: Sonia Giordani Daily News Staff Writer With more than 1 million square feet of commercial and retail space proposed for Agoura Hills, economic development of the Ventura Freeway The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California running from Ventura to Pasadena. It is the principal east-west route through Ventura County and in the southern San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County. corridor is the top issue facing the city, candidates for the City Council say. Five candidates - two incumbents and three challengers - are vying for three seats in the Nov. 4 election. Councilmen Ed Corridori and Denis Denis, king of Portugal: see Diniz. Weber are seeking second terms, challenged by Michael Forney, Jeff Reinhardt and Jerry Wolf. Mayor Fran Pavley Fran Pavley is a Democratic politician and previously served as a California Assemblywoman and as the first mayor of the Southern California community of Agoura Hills. She served as a Mayor and Councilmember for four terms. is stepping down after 15 years on the council. The candidates concur CONCUR - ["CONCUR, A Language for Continuous Concurrent Processes", R.M. Salter et al, Comp Langs 5(3):163-189 (1981)]. that the city's economic vitality depends on increased sales-tax revenue to upgrade its aging infrastructure, including more than $25 million in estimated road repairs and maintenance costs. Corridori said the city needs commercial growth to increase its sales tax sales tax, levy on the sale of goods or services, generally calculated as a percentage of the selling price, and sometimes called a purchase tax. It is usually collected in the form of an extra charge by the retailer, who remits the tax to the government. revenues and pay for services such as road maintenance and repairs. ``Equally important is maintaining the style and quality of life that most of the people who move to Agoura Hills enjoy,'' said Corridori, 54, who owns a printing business in Westlake Village and has lived in Agoura Hills for 19 years. At least three proposed commercial developments are expected to be reviewed in the next year, and Corridori said their type and shape will be the most important issue facing the city. Other priorities, he said, are alleviating traffic congestion The condition of a network when there is not enough bandwidth to support the current traffic load. congestion - When the offered load of a data communication path exceeds the capacity. and beautifying the city's freeway corridor and parks. ``So far the city has done a lot of talking about the need for development,'' said Forney, 36, a two-year resident of Agoura Hills and assistant general manager at The Oaks shopping center shopping center, a concentration of retail, service, and entertainment enterprises designed to serve the surrounding region. The modern shopping center differs from its antecedents—bazaars and marketplaces—in that the shops are usually amalgamated into in Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. . ``We need to make ourselves available to these businesses and get one or more of these planned developments in line,'' said Forney, who has served as an officer in a homeowner association and volunteered on local advisory committees when he lived in Washington state. The only candidate opposed to both the business utility tax and the parcel tax proposed on the Nov. 4 ballot, Forney said such measures would be unnecessary if the city focused on bringing ``smart, high-impact and attractive'' commercial development into Agoura Hills. Development concerns are at the top of candidate Reinhardt's list. ``It's up to the next City Council to set the tone of what we expect in the quality of these developments,'' said Reinhardt, 49, co-owner of a marketing company in Westlake Village and a resident of Agoura Hills for 10 years. ``The way the next council interprets the guidelines of the city's general plan and ordinances will determine the look and feel of our city,'' said Reinhardt, a member of the Agoura Hills Planning Commission Noun 1. planning commission - a commission delegated to propose plans for future activities and developments commission, committee - a special group delegated to consider some matter; "a committee is a group that keeps minutes and loses hours" - Milton Berle for six years and chairman of the Conejo/Las Virgenes Future Foundation in 1996-97. Reinhardt said he wants the city's road repairs and parks completed, and he supports establishing a Youth Court to give troubled teens in Agoura Hills a second chance. Incumbent Weber said generating enough revenue for the city will be the most critical issue and commercial development will be the way to increase the city's general fund. ``But I think we need to be really careful how we let our city be built out,'' said Weber, 54, a bank vice president in Camarillo and a resident of Agoura Hills for 12 years. ``We don't want high-rises and strip malls strip mall n. A shopping complex containing a row of various stores, businesses, and restaurants that usually open onto a common parking lot. Noun 1. . We want quality development, and we want to maintain our viewsheds,'' said Weber, who, along with Corridori, co-founded the city's Economic Development Committee in 1994. Attracting reasonable development projects along the freeway corridor is the most important issue facing the city, said Wolf, 49, a resident of Agoura Hills for 10 years and a certified public accountant Certified Public Accountant (CPA) An accountant who has met certain standards, including experience, age, and licensing, and passed exams in a particular state. in the city. ``We need to bring in developments that are compatible with the existing business community,'' said Wolf, founding president of the Community Center Alliance and an officer in the Agoura Hills Chamber of Commerce. Wolf said beautification beau·ti·fy tr. & intr.v. beau·ti·fied, beau·ti·fy·ing, beau·ti·fies To make or become beautiful. beau and cleanup efforts, especially at the city's entry points, is a priority, and he wants signs at the intersection of Thousand Oaks Boulevard and Kanan Road to be replaced by an electronic community message board. He also wants a skateboard park for kids. CAPTION(S): 5 Photos PHOTO (1) CORRIDORI (2) FORNEY (3) REINHARDT (4) WEBER (5) WOLF |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion