Nearby Agoura Hills Residents Press Westlake to Reject Project

Residents of a section of Agoura Hills have appealed to officials of neighboring Westlake Village to reject a large residential project near the boundary between the two cities.

Homeowners in Agoura Hills’ 1,000-house Lake Lindero subdivision fear that the project would produce a flood of traffic and pollution for their namesake lake, which is situated about 100 yards downstream from the development site.

They have vowed to flood Westlake Village City Hall with letters and protest petitions before the City Council considers applications for a zone change and development permits for the vacant 131-acre site next month.

Billionaire developer Daniel K. Ludwig is seeking to construct up to 665 apartment or condominium units on 27 acres at the oak tree-studded site. He wants to use the rest of the land for industrial and commercial structures.

Surrounds Cemetery

The horseshoe-shaped parcel surrounds the Pierce Brothers-Valley Oaks Memorial Park cemetery on Lindero Canyon Road, north of the Ventura Freeway. The residences are proposed for an area lying along the cities’ border and next to the 15-year-old Lake Lindero neighborhood.

Ludwig has applied for a density of up to 25 units per acre. Officials have estimated that the apartments or condominiums could house 1,297 people.

That is too many to crowd into such a small area, complain residents of the predominantly single-family-residence Lake Lindero.

Traffic from such a project would clog Thousand Oaks Boulevard, one of the main entrances to the neighborhood, increasing its vehicle flow by 81%, residents charge.

Runoff from the proposed project would add to pollution and silting at the man-made 13.5-acre lake, homeowners contend.

Residents are midway through an emergency cleanup of nearly 100,000 cubic yards of silt and debris that have washed into the lake from upstream construction sites in recent years. The renovation is costing homeowners $471,000.

In a letter hand-delivered to each family in the Lake Lindero area, Norman Macdonald, president of the Lake Lindero Community Assn., and Lawrence Binkley, president of the Lake Lindero Homeowners Assn., warned that the Ludwig proposal is “a very real threat to the quality of life in our community.”

Owns Lake, Golf Course

Binkley’s group owns and operates the community lake and golf course. Its 571 member families have voluntarily assessed themselves $16 a month for the next 10 years to pay for the cleanup.

Another protest leader, Robert Uebersax, said his neighbors hope to appeal to Westlake Village’s “sense of propriety” over the project plans. He said the high-density project could become “a ghetto” that would affect Lake Lindero more than Westlake Village.

Despite the nervousness of Agoura Hills residents, the development plan has thus far stirred little interest on the part of Westlake Village residents.

Instead, Westlake Village homeowners have focused their attention and ire on a second Ludwig proposal--one to convert the 91-acre Westlake Village Golf Course into a business park. The golf course is on the south side of the freeway, where most Westlake Village homes are situated. The two projects are unrelated but are expected to be heard at the same time by Westlake council members.

Current Zoning

Current zoning for the site of the proposed residences allows for mixed residential and commercial uses. Westlake Village’s master plan calls for the residential area to be a buffer between industrial development and the existing Lake Lindero homes. The master plan recommends only 300 dwelling units, however.

Allen Camp, a Thousand Oaks attorney who represents Ludwig’s local company, Westlake Associates, has said that Ludwig would have preferred to use the entire 131 acres for commercial and business-park buildings.

An environmental impact report on the project prepared for Westlake Village city officials calls for a landscaped buffer strip to separate Lake Lindero homes from the high-density residential area.