Nudist Camp ---- a Show of Support : Residents of Topanga Canyon Rally to Defense of Elysium Fields

Topanga, some residents say, is a Norman Rockwell painting of freckle-faced children skinny-dipping in a swimming hole.

It is a mellow oasis at the edge of urban sprawl, a place where aging hippies live in harmony with yuppies, and bikers are neighborly with novelists. Its unofficial motto, citizens proudly inform visitors, is “Live and Let Live.”

So, when the county Board of Supervisors reversed a decision of the Regional Planning Commission, unexpectedly voting in January to close Topanga’s Elysium Fields nudist camp, the canyon’s laid-back citizens surprised even themselves, crying dirty politics and vowing to fight for the longtime Topanga institution.

The Jan. 29 vote, orchestrated by conservative Supervisor Mike Antonovich, was the latest twist in what officials say is the longest, most expensive zoning battle in county history.

While Elysium has spent more than $150,000 in its effort to stay open, the county has spent “well over that figure,” to close it, said a county official who asked not to be named.

It has been a wrathful battle. Fueled by a group of neighbors who contend that the facility has profoundly disrupted their lives, the fight has spanned 15 years and 15 public hearings. Led by longtime resident Harvey Anderson and his family, the group has doggedly pursued Elysium’s closure.

“I feel you’ve got to stand up for what you believe in in this world,” said Janet Anderson, Harvey’s daughter-in-law. “We’ve done everything in our power to see Elysium close its doors.”

Members of the Anderson family were reluctant to discuss the controversy, saying that community opinion has turned against them because of media accounts that unfairly painted them as anti-nudity moralists. The Andersons say that they are simply anxious to see county zoning enforced.

But their apparent victory has brought many residents of Topanga angrily to their feet.

Since the board’s vote, letters have poured into Topanga’s local paper “from people who are steaming mad that the county brass are telling Topanga how to live,” said Colin Penno, editor of the bimonthly Messenger.

Ed Lange, the soft-spoken, bearded former Life magazine photographer who founded Elysium in 1968, said strangers are stopping him in the local market to offer their support.

And outwardly staid citizens--from physicians to lawyers to retirees--are claiming that Antonovich has hopelessly misread the pulse of their 7,000-member community.

“How dare they tell Topanga what’s best for Topanga?” said Marge Dehr, a 69-year-old grandmother and 30-year resident of Topanga. “Elysium has been so good to us, always helping out in the local fire and flood disasters. It would be criminal, just criminal, to close it down.”

“I’m a registered Republican,” said real estate agent Harlan Holmwood, 57. “But I think Mike acted without being informed as to what Topanga is all about. . . . It would help Mr. Antonovich’s political career if he would admit he was wrong and prove he was human.”

But Antonovich, who said he was not aware of any community uproar, dismissed criticism of the board’s action. He said the feelings of the community “are not our concern.”

If Topanga residents want to save Elysium, he said, “they will have to get together and create a special district for it. The county isn’t going to permit it because it is not compatible with the rural area” in which it has operated for 17 years.

While opponents of Elysium insist that the battle centers on zoning, others contend that the real problem is that Elysium promotes nudity. On a busy summer Sunday, perhaps 300 of the camp’s 1,400 members--including parents, children and some single adults--gather for picnics and sunbathing.

“This is not a fight about noise, or traffic, or zoning,” said Marte Hall, 54, a Topanga resident. “It’s about the naked human body, and that’s a shame.”

Elysium attorney Stephen Rohde said the board’s claims against Elysium, from zoning improprieties to geological problems, have little grounding in fact.

Several of the formal findings adopted by the board to justify Elysium’s closure appear to be based upon inconclusive arguments:

- The board ruled that the private, nonprofit facility is a “commercial intrusion” in a rural area. In fact, when Elysium opened in 1968, the land was zoned A-1, allowing recreational uses including nudist camps. After an unsuccessful attempt to close Elysium, the county restricted nudist camps to Zone A-2. Elysium became a permitted “nonconforming” use. Elysium’s permit expired in 1976, and it has sought an extension ever since. “They switched the zoning around on us--it’s as simple as that,” Rohde said. The Regional Planning Commission last summer granted a five-year extension. But Elysium, unhappy over conditions placed on its permit, appealed to the supervisors, who decided to deny the entire permit.

- The board also cited a preliminary county report in concluding that geological problems under tiny Robinson Road, the entrance to Elysium, might lead to slippage of nearby property if the road is widened. The board said that unless the road is widened, fire trucks will be unable to pass each other, constituting an extreme fire hazard. However, a private study, which county geologists say is more extensive than their own, found that the road could be safely widened. The board at first indicated that it would allow time for the county staff to review the private study but then voted without waiting for results of the review. Rohde accused the supervisors of breaking their promise. “We feel Mike had a place he wanted to get to, and he did what was needed to get there,” he said. Antonovich aide Gerry Kariya said the board simply “decided there was enough information to make their decision against Elysium, so they went ahead.”

- The supervisors ruled that constant noise and traffic bothers the neighbors. According to county estimates, about 150 cars travel on Robinson Road on typical summer Sundays. The disgruntled neighbors include Harvey Anderson, who recently moved to Malibu, Anderson’s son, who lives near Elysium, Elsie and Hilward Stenson, two of Anderson’s relatives who built their home next to Elysium’s fence, and another neighbor. The Andersons and Stensons say that traffic and other noise from Elysium have dramatically altered their rural life. Their complaints have been disputed by neighbors who are friendly with Elysium. “At night, what you hear is crickets and coyotes,” said Dr. Daniel Newman, who lives across the street. “Traffic has never been a problem. I love it here.” A deputy at the Malibu sheriff’s station said no noise or nuisance complaints have been filed against Elysium in the last several years.

- The board found that the steeply swerving intersection of Robinson Road off Topanga Canyon Boulevard was unsafe for Elysium’s traffic volume. Officials of the California Department of Transportation say, however, that no safety problems exist at that intersection. Only four accidents have occurred there in the last five years, “and it is not considered at all dangerous by Caltrans,” said spokeswoman Margie Tiritilli. “I can’t understand what the county is talking about,” she said.

Despite these apparent contradictions, Antonovich and Chuck Moore, a county attorney, claim that there is substantial evidence to support their findings.

‘Contradictory Evidence’

“It’s not our job to worry about contradictory evidence,” Moore said. “All we had to show was that there was substantial evidence . . . that findings like these could be made. We did that.”

One county staff member noted that the findings were “just icing on the cake,” because the board relied heavily upon its interpretation of Elysium as a commercial facility.

“The primary issue is zoning, not those other claims,” Antonovich concurred. “People who have purchased homes on that road expect to be surrounded by other homes, and not by a facility like that one.”

But some residents say that Antonovich’s concerns are not shared by the community.

“The only thing out of place in this dispute is Mike Antonovich,” said Gerry Haigh, 63, a Westwood psychotherapist and psychologist who has lived in Topanga since 1962.

‘Open to Nudists’

“We’ve had the Bohemians, then the beatniks, then the hippies in Topanga, and we surely are open to the nudists.”

In fact, many residents said, Elysium has put Topanga on the map, attracting nationally known psychologists, therapists and scientists to its seminars on human growth and development.

Regular visitors have included John and Antoinette Lilly, the internationally recognized dolphin researchers. Among the groups who use Elysium are Mensa, an organization of people with high IQs, the Orange County Assn. of Humanistic Psychology and Parents Without Partners, founder Lange said.

But, with the Board of Supervisors standing firm, the battle over Elysium now appears headed for the courts.

Attorney Rohde said he will file a request for a writ of mandate in Los Angeles Superior Court by April 28 in an effort to keep Elysium open.

Suing Neighbors

In addition, Elysium and several neighbors are suing the Andersons, the Stensons and another neighbor, Raymond Moffatt. The suit claims that Elysium has legal title to widen Robinson Road through their private easements.

However, if Elysium fails in its bid to remain open, many residents predict that the valuable parcel of gently sloping land will be developed.

“When it’s gone, it’s gone, and we’ll have . . . homes up there instead,” said Bob Hode, a Los Angeles attorney and 10-year resident of Topanga. “Then we’ll really have noise, and we’ll really have traffic.” Hode said. “And then all those people who’ve been complaining, well, they’ll probably move away.”