One of the issues in this year’s City Council election is The Lakes shopping center and the amount of money that’s being poured into 26 angled parking spaces facing the mall on Thousand Oaks Boulevard.

The amount of money that’s going into those parking spaces is nothing short of astronomical: $96,500 for a study on how to improve business at The Lakes; $78,000 for design of the additional parking area; and $230,000 for construction and landscaping improvements.

Our calculator hits $404,500 with those amounts.

That’s $15,500 per parking space.

What does the city expect to accomplish with the extra parking? We wonder because whenever we go to The Lakes, parking isn’t a problem. The rear parking lot seems as close to The Lakes’ businesses and restaurants as T.O. Boulevard, so convenience isn’t a factor.

Maybe the angled parking is an experiment. The city wants to see how angled parking would work along the boulevard because parking is a key component of the mixed-use plan that’s envisioned for the future: Stores and service businesses on the first story and dwellings in upper stories.

Model mixed-use or “village” zoning is progressive because it would reduce the need for gas-guzzling vehicles that belch contaminants into the air. Presumably, people could live and work in the same neighborhood and wouldn’t need internal combustion engines except for taking trips out of town.

Whatever the reason, it’s time to stop pouring money into The Lakes. It will survive or fail, just like any other enterprise in the world of capitalism. We hope it turns the corner, but if it doesn’t, it doesn’t.

For those who want to know the history, The Lakes was approved by council members Andy Fox, Dennis Gillette and Bob Wilson. It was opposed by council members Claudia Bill-de la Peña and Ed Masry.