Boudreau wins action with Coastal Commission
By Joann Groff joann@theacorn.com

Landowner Brian Boudreau has won a lengthy battle with the California Coastal Commission to rebuild his Malibu Valley Farms. A fire a decade ago burned much of the equestrian facility.

The Coastal Commission voted 75 to award Boudreau afterthefact permits for structures already rebuilt on his farm, as well as permits for further development.

The 31acre property at the corner of Stokes Canyon Road and Mulholland Highway has been in the Boudreau family for more than 30 years. In the mid-'70s the Boudreaus switched from raising sheep and goats on the property to raising horses. The farm today has about 50 horses, most of them racing thoroughbreds.

According to Boudreau, the Coastal Commission visited the site in 1989 and 1993 and assured the family there were no violations evident. But after the 1996 fire destroyed most of the farm, the Boudreau family began to rebuild and several problems arose.

"The commission took the position that if I couldn't show permits through the county for my structures, then none of them were vested," Boudreau said. "The structures I built don't require county permits, so it was a catch22-impossible. But now they've permitted me and it's all over."

The commission reportedly was concerned about the pollution created by Boudreau's horses. The agency said nearby Stokes Creek was affected, and that certain structures violated a requirement for a 100-foot buffer zone along the stream. Boudreau's promises that the creek would remain clean apparently swayed the commissioners.

A new mitigation plan for the farm includes adding a riparian buffer and replacing the pipe corrals with covered barns that have gutters to collect rain runoff. Boudreau will build a 1,000-foot environmental buffer that runs the full length of the creek. He will also build a "bio-swale" next to the buffer that will help purify runoff from the farm before it reaches the creek.

"It's a state-of-the-art method," Boudreau said. "Everybody can now use this. If we can prove we can keep all pollution out, I think we can be a model. We'll have to test and test to prove it, but we'll do it."

Commissioner Dave Potter said Boudreau also is required to plant more than 1,000 trees along Stokes Creek.

"The applicant is a victim of his own good deeds," Potter said. "I don't want to set the precedent of punishing someone for improving his property."

More than 40 local residents came to a recent commission hearing to speak on Boudreau's behalf.

"The horse community came out so supportive," Boudreau said. "I couldn't tell you how elated we were."

In 2005, Boudreau tried to have 152 acres of separate property on Mulholland Highway near Stokes Canyon Road annexed by the city of Calabasas in the hope that he could build a private resort called Malibu Valley Inn and Spa. Calabasas voters defeated the plan. Boudreau said he hopes to build luxury homes at the site instead.