Bond Sale Sought for Mall Improvements : Thousand Oaks: City would recoup money from Janss center owners by creating a special district. Council leans toward approval.

The Thousand Oaks City Council next week will consider an unusual request: a business owner begging for more taxes.

Janss Corp. has asked the city to levy new taxes on its namesake mall by creating a special assessment district.

But there’s a catch.

Before levying a tax, the city would have to provide upfront cash for Janss Mall’s planned $30-million expansion by issuing bonds. Money from the bond sale would fund public improvements at the mall, including a three-story parking garage, new landscaping and street widening.

To pay off the bonds, the city would create a community facilities district and tax the mall owners for the next three decades.

“The liability to the city is virtually nil,” Councilwoman Judy Lazar said. “The bond is secured by the property, so if they fail to pay (the special assessment), we would be able to take over the Janss Mall. Sounds like a good deal to me.”

Yet Mayor Elois Zeanah cautioned that the city would put its credit rating on the line if it issued bonds on behalf of a private corporation.

“We have to be very careful in the number of bonds we give,” Zeanah said. “We can’t just issue them to any person who asks.”

She added, however, that the Janss Mall deserved special consideration because of its historic location at the corner of Moorpark Road and Hillcrest Drive in the heart of Thousand Oaks.

“Given the importance of the Janss Mall to our community, and given public enthusiasm about the renovation plans, I would support their request,” Zeanah said.

Councilman Frank Schillo tossed in one more reason to support Janss Corp.’s bid for bonds: increased sales tax revenue. The mall’s expansion, he said, should translate into more sales--and more tax money pouring into city coffers.

Before creating a special assessment district, the City Council must hold a public hearing. On Tuesday, the council will consider initiating the process by hiring a consultant to study the bond-and-tax plan. Janss Corp. has put up $75,000 to pay for the consultant’s study.

Max Nardoni, Janss Corp. vice president of development, said he hopes to finalize the bond issue by March, about the same time he expects the mall’s renovation to begin.

Nardoni said he was not sure whether his company would pass the cost of the tax on to the mall’s tenants. Several council members and business owners, however, predicted that the renovation would ultimately hike rents.

And that prospect alarmed some of the mall’s small-business owners, who already fear that a planned nine-screen movie theater and Mervyn’s department store will crowd them out.

“The bottom line is, there’s only so much the tenants can pay until we’re in a lousy predicament,” said Peter Buckwald, who has managed the Thousand Oaks Sewing & Vacuum store for 12 years.

For now, Buckwald is protected: His lease runs through 1997 at a fixed rent that increases only a small amount each year. Yet he worries that he will have to leave the mall when his lease expires, especially if a special tax raises his rent.

But another business owner, Bruce Markowitz of Yogurt Plus, said he thought sprucing up the outdoor mall would generate enough extra business to justify a rent increase.

“This mall has been here since 1964 and it’s old and sick,” Markowitz said. “It needs a 1990s look.”

Tentative plans call for the expanded mall--renamed the Janss Marketplace--to include a Mervyn’s department store, Barnes & Noble bookstore, Good Guys electronics store, Wherehouse record store, a nine-screen Mann cinema complex, and an expansive food court.

A city-sponsored bond issue would pay only for the public improvement portion of the expansion, which carries an estimated price tag of about $18 million. Janss Corp. would fund the remaining renovations.