Calabasas council deadlocks on development

Calabasas City Council members split 2-2 on a decision to require an environmental review on a two-house development in the Calabasas Highlands.

Because of the tie--Councilmember Barry Groveman was out of town and unable to vote--an earlier planning commission decision to let the development proceed without a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review was upheld.

Construction of the two homes on Lilac Trail by Michelle Dornfest would not have a significant effect on the environment, according to a biologist's report. The planning commission agreed and approved the project on Oct. 12.

Neighbor Marion Smith filed an appeal, stating that because of a stream and protected plant and wildlife in the area, an environmental review would be helpful.

According to documents filed with the city, "Mrs. Smith is not asking (Calabasas) to deny the Dornfests their right to develop on their property. (Smith) is asking the city to take a hard look at the potential environmental consequences of the Dornfests' proposed project through a formal CEQA review."

Chris Deleau of Schmitz & Associates, a spokesperson for the Dornfest development, said the complaints were submitted "in an effort to consciously create a sense of imbalance and to make it look like there are more issues than there actually are. . . . These are two nice folks who just want to build houses."

Biologist John Hodder, director of California Wetlands Research, said the previous biological study was inadequate. "This is not the Dornfest's fault; this is not the planning commission's fault," Hodder said. "There's a high level of incompetence that's being shown in this report."

Dornfest tried to relate to her disgruntled neighbors.

"We are residents in the Highlands," she said. "We understand the concerns of the community. There are infrastructure problems; the road needs to be improved; the drainage needs to be improved; there's parking problems. And we took it upon ourselves to work with city to actually improve these conditions.

"We think the controversy here is simply political. People don't want development in the Highlands--it has nothing to do with the environment," Dornfest said.

The City Council debated whether to postpone their vote, but Councilmember Jonathon Wolfson pushed for an end to the discussion.

"I think we have all the evidence in front of us," Wolfson said. "We've heard a very thorough presentation from staff. Unless you want to have five people vote, then I don't know why we would continue this."

Councilmembers Mary Sue Maurer and James Bozajian wanted to postpone a decision while Wolfson and Mayor Dennis Washburn did not.

As a result of the council's deadlock, the planning commission's decision to move ahead with the development was upheld.

"I'm shocked and very disappointed," Smith said. "This is a terrible way to end this. There are a lot of grounds for opposing this. I've never opposed a development--this is the first time. Now I don't know whether to go on with it."