Exemptions specified for building moratorium in Highlands/Topanga overlay area in city of Calabasas

Although the Calabasas City Council passed a resolution last month prohibiting any new construction in the Old Topanga/Highlands Overlay Area, some exemptions may apply, according to Mark Persico, the city’s planning and development services director.

"The exemption (clause) within the ordinance is very open-ended. But generally, the idea behind the exemptions is that the city doesn’t want to penalize people (who are well into the application process)," Persico told a recent gathering.

"Generally the council will look for people who have submitted plans and have worked with the city," he continued.

"They don’t want to place an undue burden to people who have been in the process."

Residents who haven’t begun the application process should wait until the moratorium is lifted and the new standards are set, he said.

Right now, Calabasas cannot accept any new applications under the moratorium, said Joyce Parker, a planning consultant to the city.

"We could have a run on people trying to get in before the standards change. The city wanted breathing room," she said.

Persico outlined the three groups eligible for exemptions:

•Any room addition to a single-family home in which the addition is no more than 25 percent of the existing building floor area would probably qualify for an exemption –as long as the total dwelling does not exceed 2,500 square feet in the Highlands or 2,000 square feet in the Old Topanga region.

•Any projects that have already received planning commission approval and are in the plan-check phase with the city are eligible for exemptions, as long as all other requirements are met. Persico said four projects currently fit into this category.

•The third area of exemption is open-ended, Persico reiterated. Anyone can apply to the city council. So far, Persico has received five letters from people who plan to approach the council for exemptions, "but there can be a lot of other people–there could be 50–who knows?" he conjectured.

Unlike appealing a planning commission decision, which costs the applicant $500, there are no fees for approaching the city council for an exemption to this moratorium.

Persico speculated that the council would be more sympathetic to applicants who’ve already invested a significant amount of time and money.

Although the moratorium’s duration is scheduled for seven months, it could end sooner, Councilman James Bozajian told some of the meeting-goers and The Acorn.

Bozajian said that he thought the moratorium could end by November.

Persico would not comment on Bozajian’s prediction, but said "it may or may not be the position of the full council."

—Sharon Makokian