Local News in Brief : Westlake Turns Down Projects Sought by Developer Ludwig

Billionare developer Daniel K. Ludwig was dealt a double defeat Wednesday night as the Westlake Village City Council rejected two projects he had sought for more than two years.

The Council voted unanimously to deny proposals to convert Ludwig’s 91-acre Westlake Village Golf Course into a business park, and to turn a 131-acre parcel he owns into a residential and commercial development.

The action was a victory for Westlake Village residents who have fought the golf course project and for neighboring Agoura Hills homeowners, who had protested the density of the residential-commercial plan.

But it was a blow to Ludwig, who was an original master-planner and developer for Westlake Village nearly 20 years ago.

Ludwig, 86, of New York City, was not present for four public hearings that preceded the 5-0 vote. But Allen Camp, a Thousand Oaks lawyer who represents Ludwig, hinted that Ludwig would not drop the projects.

“We’ve stated before that operating the golf course is not one of our business objectives,” Camp said. He refused, however, to say what Ludwig may do next.

Camp said that Ludwig’s planners might scale down the other project and submit it again to the city.

Council members said they were following the dictates of homeowners in rejecting both plans. They were not moved by Ludwig’s promise to maintain a nine-hole golf course, along with office buildings, on land where the 18-hole course now exists.