Westlake Village mulls over plan to allow housing at former hospital site





By Gregory Koteles
Acorn Staff Writer

The Westlake City Council agreed to postpone until its Dec. 11 meeting a decision about whether to alter the zoning of the Westlake Outpatient Center to allow "special needs housing" in order to bring the city into compliance with state housing laws.


The proposal would change the city’s land use plan to authorize a minimum of 75 units on the 6.5-acre site of the old Westlake hospital, which could be used to house the elderly or disabled.


The change would bring the city into compliance with the state- mandated housing element before an end of the year deadline, without necessarily requiring the hospital facility to be torn down or new housing to be constructed.


"We don’t have to build affordable housing … we just have to provide the land," said City Councilman Mark Rutherford at the meeting. "We’re just trying to avoid the darn fine," he added.


City Planning Director Bob Theobald clarified that what was being proposed was an overlay, not a complete zoning change.


"Another arrow is being added to the quiver," Theobald said. He anticipated a mixed medical and housing use for the property in the future.


Some members of the audience weren’t pleased, however, with the city’s proposal.


Westlake Village resident Thelma Ploesch said she was surprised to see the city council even considering the move.


"Four people on the council campaigned that we are going to get our hospital back," she said at the public hearing. Ploesch argued that the hospital site shouldn’t be considered for housing needs and concluded her comments by saying, "It’s no wonder nobody thinks they can trust politicians. When there’s another election, I hope people remember this."


Mayor Betty De Santis defended the council’s integrity and commitment to bring a trauma center back to the region.


"For the last six years, this council has written to every healthcare provider, with no success," De Santis said.


City Councilman Chris Mann also defended the city’s actions.


"Every member on this council is very dedicated to the hospital issue," said Mann.


"The old Westlake Hospital site, I’ll go out on a limb and say, ‘It’s never going to be a hospital again."’ He argued that because of its small size and limited needs of surrounding communities, the site simply wasn’t profitable enough.


Nevertheless, Mann vowed that the council would continue to push for a new trauma center, probably in neighboring Agoura Hills or Thousand Oaks.


City Councilman Robert Slavin, however, shared some concerns about passing the resolution to add the special needs housing overlay without studying it further.


Despite reservations on the part of De Santis and Rutherford, the council decided to postpone the vote on the assurance of City Attorney Terrence Boga and the planning director, who concurred that the decision could be delayed until the December meeting, at the very latest, without missing the state-mandated deadline.


Rutherford, however, said that the postponement "is not going to have an impact on what this council will have to do before the end of the year."


The resolution will return to the council again on Wed., Dec. 11.



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