Retailer Abandoning Warner Center Project

Plans to build a Home Depot store on Topanga Canyon Boulevard in Warner Center were dropped Monday in response to opposition from community members and a request of Los Angeles City Councilwoman Laura Chick.

David Doll, vice president of Westfield Corp., owners of the property, said it was easier to abandon the plan than try to change the overwhelming negative public opinion about it.

“To go through a long protracted fight to proceed with the development did not seem to be of merit at this time for us or for the city,” he said.

The project, proposed last spring for the corner of Topanga Canyon and Victory boulevards, was met with opposition at a June meeting of Chick’s Woodland Hills/West Hills Neighborhood Planning Advisory Council.

Doll said he had not anticipated the negative response to the store.

“Home Depot is a good retailer and their use is a good one,” he said. “I was surprised the community was so against hardware uses. I didn’t know it was so objectionable.”

Ken Bernstein, planning deputy for Chick, whose represents the area, said the concerns were threefold: the potential for day laborers congregating in front of the store, a possible increase in traffic for a high-profile intersection and a question of whether a warehouse-type store was in keeping with the design plans of the Warner Center Specific Plan.

Bernstein did acknowledge there are a few other such businesses in the Warner Center area now, but said Chick “felt that corner is a gateway to Warner Center. It deserves a retail project that enhances the whole character of Warner Center.”

Home Depot officials could not be reached for comment, but city officials said they have been advised that company representatives will work with the community and Chick to find another location in the area for a store.