After consultants were paid $96,500 of taxpayer money to enhance the economic performance of The Lakes shopping center, city staff recommended the City Council proceed with a scenario that’s very similar to the consultant’s original plans, which have existed before The Lakes opened in 2006.

The old plans, known as Phase II of The Lakes, include adding a parking garage and a theater to the land between city hall and The Lakes on Thousand Oaks Boulevard.

The consultant group was hired in April to figure out what kind of measures the staff could recommend to enhance revenue at the 40-acre property that’s owned by the city. They came up with four scenarios—a cinema center and parking structure; 150 apartments, a swimming pool and parking structure; a cinema center and apartments with a parking structure; or starting over and completely redoing The Lakes and surrounding area.

A city staff report by Community Development Director John Prescott recommended consideration of a 35,000-square-foot cinema with eight screens and 1,200 seats built behind The Lakes, with a parking structure behind the theaters. The parking structure would have four levels and 680 spaces.

According to the report, the theaters have the potential to stimulate higher retail sales.

In 2000, when the city entered into a development agreement with Los Angeles-based developer Caruso Affiliated, there was talk of constructing a multiscreen movie theater complex, but Caruso had difficulty finding a willing theater operator because of a downturn in the movie industry at that time.

So the project was broken into two phases, eliminating the theater complex and parking garage from the first phase. The agreement was that Caruso would have five years from the time The Lakes was completed to develop the second stage.

The consultant said the study found full-service, sit-down restaurants along with pubs, clubs and upscale neighborhood stores were recommended for the lucrative demographics of this area.

The report also noted that the Civic Arts Plaza and The Lakes are underdeveloped and underutilized. It was suggested an $86,000 elevator and new stairs be added on the eastern side of the Civic Arts Plaza. Diagonal parking was also recommended along the boulevard.

“I don’t really have any questions. I thought your report was really right on,” said Councilmember Andrew Fox after the consultant’s presentation.

“I hate to say it, but probably the best option was the start-over option, but that would be really economically unviable because of what is there already, but we’re dealing with an area that has shortcomings,” Councilmember Jacqui Irwin said. “We’re trying to fix something that (had) constraints put on it a number of years ago.”

“When government and politics interferes with business, even the best of businessmen are going uphill,” said Rick Lemmo, vice president of Caruso Affiliated.

Lemmo reminded the council that a City Council member asked Caruso, the developer of The Promenade, to build The Lakes. The city then restricted how and what could be built.

The Lakes was only developed to one-tenth of what the zoning for that area would allow, City Manager Scott Mitnick said.

“Politics of the time demanded that it not be used for its highest and best use,” Lemmo said.

Still, The Lakes is successful with an 8 percent return, he said.

“The climate in the community now is much different than in 2002,” Fox said.

Fox said this time the council could “get it right.”

Not everyone agreed.

“Status quo looks very, very attractive to me,” Councilmember Bill-de la Peña said.

She said the proposed development “borders on delusions of grandeur” and suggested the council “accept Thousand Oaks the way it is,” cautioning that “right now we can’t afford to spend more.”

“We have to be proactive. We can’t just wait for something to happen,” Mayor Tom Glancy said.

He compared status quo to putting one’s head in the sand.

Councilmember Dennis Gillette said it would be a “terrible missed opportunity if we just received and filed and put this on the shelf.”

Fox made the motion, and the council voted 4-to-1, with Billde la Peña dissenting, to refer the report to a council ad hoc community committee for further consideration.