All Calabasas residents feel the effects of growth

I was disappointed to see The Acorn (Aug. 16) fuel division in the Calabasas community, bemoaning the developments being "heaped on the residents of the west side." A letter to the editor in the same edition insinuated that our elected officials favor the east side of town and "do not value west side residents." This same divisive line of rhetoric was used by opportunistic political candidates pandering for votes in recent elections.

I live on the east side of town and cope daily with additional traffic generated by the nearby Commons, the 550-home Oaks development, the post office, the Countrywide headquarters and the soon-to-be developed Calabasas Inn project, not to mention the new civic center under construction. We all face the same problems.

As a community activist fighting against over-development for 20 years, I have learned the hard way that developers do have a right to build their legal entitlements. Sometimes city hall has to hold its nose and approve projects it wishes would go away. The consequences of denying an entitled project can be pretty ugly, ranging from city liability for huge legal damages to the danger of a worse, more environmentally destructive development allowed under current zoning on the same parcel.

So, to my understandingly hurting brothers and sisters on the west side, I feel your pain. But remember that sometimes our elected officials have to approve an unpopular but entitled development project in order to protect our citizens from financial and environmental consequences that could be far worse. Marci Ronka Calabasas