Residents file lawsuit against Calabasas traffic signal
By Joann Groff joann@theacorn.com

Two residents have filed a lawsuit against the city of Calabasas challenging a traffic signal at the intersection of Old Topanga Canyon Road and Mulholland Highway. Toby Keeler and Elizabeth Stephens filed the suit June 18. It alleges that Calabasas City Manager Tony Coroalles failed to follow proper guidelines when he approved the project. The suit asserts the City Council's decision to bypass an environmental review for the project was inappropriate because the site is located in a scenic corridor.

"This is about a City Council that waves an environmental flag yet condones the exemption (of environmental reviews) at every turn," said Keeler, a former Calabasas planning commissioner. "It's about a city founded on meaningful citizen participation that now excludes residents from significant decisions affecting their neighborhoods. Primarily, this is about hypocrisy and betrayal of public trust."

The suit says the project would adversely affect the Mulholland Highway and Old Topanga Canyon Road scenic corridors, as well as the nearby Headwaters Corner.

More than 100 area residents have signed a petition opposing the signal on the grounds that it is inconsistent with the city's General Plan and would alter the character of the two scenic corridors.

Also opposed to the light are the Calabasas Highlands Homeowners Association and the Las Virgenes Homeowners Federation.

"I believe the city is trying to circumvent very clear environmental safeguards because some parents at Viewpoint, most of whom live outside the community, are delayed a few minutes at this intersection on school days," Stephens said. "This is an insensitive and blatant disregard of the rural character of our area."

According to the suit, the traffic signal is inconsistent with the city's General Plan because the plan clearly subordinates the movement of traffic to the preservation of the natural environment,

Keeler and Stephens recommended alternatives such as stationing two traffic officers to coordinate vehicle flow during peak travel hours. They also would like a memorandum of understanding for traffic management between the city and Viewpoint School, which contributes to congestion.

Keeler and Stephens said opposition in the form of a petition, a letter from a homeowners association, and letters in local newspapers should trigger an environmental report based on the city's own guidelines.

"It struck me a few days after it was filed that to put a traffic signal at a place called Headwaters Corner, it speaks to what the city represents, or in this case, doesn't represent," Keeler said. "The only way to stop the exemption was to file a lawsuit."

City officials declined to comment on the suit.