In an effort to garner support for its proposed store at the former Kmart site in Thousand Oaks, Home Depot officials will hold a community open house today.

The home improvement company wants to open a 96,973-square-foot store and garden area at 315 Hampshire Road at Foothill Drive, just south of Highway 101.

The proposed store is about 30,000 square feet smaller than the average Home Depot store, company spokeswoman Kathryn Gallagher said.

"The purpose of the meeting is to have one-on-one meetings with members of the community about all of the details about this project," Gallagher said. She said representatives would clarify facts and potential impacts, answer questions and listen to feedback.

The project, smaller than the shuttered Kmart store, has not been without its critics. Complaints about traffic, noise and the effect the store would have on smaller businesses in the area recently dominated a meeting of residents concerned about the development.

Louis Masry, president of the Agoura/Oak Park/Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce one of two chambers of commerce in the Conejo Valley attended the meeting. His chamber is against the project.

"It will drive out the small, independently owned businesses, especially those along Thousand Oaks Boulevard," Masry said. "I think there remain a number of unanswered questions. I think you need to look at it and say, 'Why do we need it?'"

He pointed to the fact that there is a Home Depot store in Newbury Park.

An analysis conducted in January by CB Richard Ellis, a real estate services firm, found the proposed store would not likely cause any stores to close.

Competing stores may be affected, it said, if they don't improve their performance.

"The most important factor in determining that impact is the current relative strength of their operation," the report states about competing stores. "If any are particularly marginal operations at this time, the adverse impact and consequences would likely be more severe."

The Home Depot in Newbury Park would experience a drop in sales because some of its customers would find the new store more convenient, according to the analysis.

The analysis also found that within the new store's trade area, which would include Westlake Village, Agoura Hills, portions of Thousand Oaks, Calabasas, Malibu and unincorporated portions of Ventura and Los Angeles counties, demand for the merchandise sold by Home Depot will total about $274 million in annual sales.

The Home Depot Community Open House is scheduled today from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Los Robles Greens Banquet Center, 299 S. Moorpark Road, which is south of Highway 101.

More information can be requested by calling 856-9137.