There's no 'free pass' for developers

As founding council members of Calabasas and member of the City Council that voted for the city's current General Plan, we believe that it's necessary to answer Toby Keeler's angry and misleading letter to the editor of Sept. 6, "No free pass for developers." Mr. Keeler asserts that the city's efforts to transition from a performancebased to a policybased General Plan would be a "free pass" for developers. This is not true.

The current General Plan was prepared upon the city's founding in 1991 and adopted in 1995. Because the city did not have a development code at the time, the General Plan was designed to serve as both. Thus it contained both policy and standards in the same document.

As many of you know, a General Plan is analogous to a constitution. The general Plan sets goals and objectives for land use and six other elements, and the development code specifically implants those goals and objectives. In the state constitution there are no standards for highway travel, such as speed limits. These standards are found in the implementing laws derived from the constitution. It is plainly false to imply that the city's standards and norms, which both of us worked hard to establish, would be placed at risk by codifying the very same standards and norms in the development code rather than the General Plan.

Also, contrary to Mr. Keeler's statements, an updated policybased plan will not establish a system based simply on staff rendering decisions as to what conforms to the plan. On the contrary, with the standards embedded in the development code, staff will be unable to make arbitrary decisions and justify those decisions by stating that they conform to the General Plan.

The new development code will be drafted to ensure that all of the standards and norms of our great community will be codified in law. Additionally, projects will continue to be analyzed by the city's design review panel, the planning commission and the City Council.

It's time to stop picking fights where there are none and work together to make sure that the General Plan under development and the ensuing development code reflects the goals, objectives and standard of all Calabasans, not just those of a shrill minority. The importance of responsible development still remains a cornerstone of our city. Bob Hill, former mayor Marvin Lopata, former mayor Calabasas