DEVELOPER DRAFTS THIRD PLAN FOR SITE; AGOURA HILLS CREEK LEFT ALONE.

Byline: Sonia Giordani Daily News Staff Writer

The third time could be the charm for the ever-evolving Creekside Center project in Agoura Hills.

Area developer Vance Moran said he will submit a third draft of plans for the 17-acre site on the southwest corner of Agoura and Kanan roads. Various proposals for the parcel, which abuts Ladyface Mountain and sustains a section of Lindero Canyon Creek, have raised concerns among environmental agencies.

``The biggest concern some people expressed was touching the creek. So I decided to redo the plans,'' said Moran, an Agoura Hills resident who has owned the property for more than 40 years.

Moran proposed the Creekside Center last year as a 90,000-square-foot development anchored by a 2,000-seat movie theater. The original plan proposed to fill in the creek that bisects the parcel and to conduct water through a pipeline beneath development.

The project was revised earlier this year as a 118,000-square-foot development that incorporated the creek. The second plan proposed to build the movie theater over the creek but have it run its natural course through the building.

A $60,000 draft environmental impact report was completed in August and was scheduled to be finalized last month when Moran again withdrew the plan.

Moran said the new plan will move the movie theater away from the creek altogether and closer to Agoura Road. A pedestrian bridge will span the creek and connect the theater with the rest of the development.

The change in plans could add more than $1.5 million to the cost of the project, which at last estimate ran about $22 million. The plans should be submitted to the city within the next two weeks, Moran said.

City planners said they were optimistic the new plan would resolve some of the looming concerns environmental agencies raised during the hearing of the previous plan.

``The idea here is to provide less of an impact on the creek than the previous plans,'' said Mike Kamino, senior planner with the city of Agoura Hills.

Modifications to the proposal, however, could require additional studies and perhaps a new environmental impact report and 45-day review period.

``Whether or not a new EIR will be required will be decided after we get the new plans, and based on whether the changes pose any new and significant impacts that were not considered in the previous EIR,'' Kamino said.