Calabasas Needs to Follow the Blueprint : City Is Wasting Time, Money by Approving Projects Before Developing a General Plan

In 1990, when Calabasas residents were struggling to form an independent city unencumbered by Los Angeles County, some local developers were so fearful of a crackdown on new construction that they asked to be excluded from the new city limits. In fact, Calabasas cityhood backers often complained about county officials who were “highly permissive” in allowing too many large development projects.

Yet it was the new Calabasas City Council that approved 250 luxury homes for a gated community on 938 acres in the Micor project in 1992, in its first major land-use decision. The site was a secluded canyon in the Las Virgenes Valley . . . and Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert H. O’Brien crushed the project last year. It seems that Calabasas officials had failed to adopt a land-use plan. Without one, the judge ruled, the county plan held sway. Ironically, that county plan would have allowed just 81 homes on the site. In January, a state appeals court backed O’Brien’s ruling.

Unfortunately, Calabasas city officials took neither the hint nor the advice of the court. Instead of putting all of their efforts into creating their own General Plan, those officials patched together an “urgency” ordinance giving the city of 27,000 the authority to approve construction of more homes in Las Virgenes Valley than anticipated by the county.

Wrong again. On April 8, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Diane Wayne overturned the “urgency” ordinance.

The issue here is not the value of the project, which has been supported by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy for its setting aside of 700 acres for park space. Nor is it a case, as the mayor of Calabasas puts it, of a local government not being allowed to govern. The blueprint here is clear. Develop a General Plan, and then approve your development projects, not before . . . unless you like wasting public money in court.