Westlake Village OKs Building of Major Complex

The Westlake Village City Council voted 4 to 1 Tuesday night to approve construction of Westlake North, a residential and commercial development that will be the largest in the planned city’s history.

“It is good for the community,” Mayor Franklin Pelletier said, citing the $31.7 million worth of concessions the developer agreed to in exchange for council approval.

Pelletier, Councilwoman Bonnie Klove, Councilman Kenneth E. Rufener and Councilman Irwin A. Shane voted to approve the project. Councilwoman Berniece E. Bennett cast the dissenting vote, but said she did so because she wanted more information about the development company, Westlake Village Associates, and the savings and loans institutions that comprise it.

Westlake North would be built on a 129-acre, horseshoe-shaped property, which surrounds the Valley Oaks Memorial Park Cemetery to the north of the Ventura Freeway and to the east of Lindero Canyon Road.

Westlake Village Associates first proposed 400 condominiums and 1.5 million square feet of commercial space, including six-story buildings. But the proposal eventually was reduced to include 250 residential units, 1.4 million square feet of commercial space and a building height limit of four stories.