Council Adds Powers to Push Mall Project

Concerned that unreasonable demands from tenants could jeopardize the $30-million Janss Mall renovation, Thousand Oaks City Council members have voted themselves the right to use the power of condemnation to push the project forward if necessary.

All council members said they would be reluctant to use condemnation to force any tenant to accept the renovation plans. But on a 3-2 vote, they reserved the right to take such action. Councilwomen Elois Zeanah and Jaime Zukowski dissented.

Mall owner Bill Janss requested council members to publicly affirm their right to initiate condemnation proceedings should his negotiations with tenants reach an impasse. He and other mall owners would reimburse the city for all costs incurred during a condemnation proceeding.

In initiating a condemnation, city officials would probably focus on one narrow provision in several tenants’ leases: a phrase guaranteeing anchor stores the right to veto any renovation project.

The city would appraise the value of that veto right and then buy it in order to break a logjam in negotiations and allow the renovations to proceed, City Atty. Mark Sellers said. “Otherwise,” Sellers wrote in a memo to the council, “these tenants could unreasonably frustrate this important redevelopment effort.”

The council’s action angered some tenants, who believe the Janss Mall landlords will use the threat of condemnation as a club to force agreement during touchy negotiations.

John Murray, an attorney for Toys R Us, said company executives fear that “the developer will not enter into any constructive dialogue with Toys in the future” now that condemnation is an option.

But condemnation could be used to benefit some tenants, especially the owners of small stores, Sellers said. Under federal law, tenants who sell their leases can shelter their profits from taxes for three years while they seek a new location. They get the tax break only by showing a letter threatening condemnation.