Condos Blocked, Builder May Erect Estates in Agoura

Blocked for the second time from building condominiums and an industrial park on an Agoura cattle ranch, an Encino developer Thursday said he may build million-dollar estates there instead.

Builder Jerry Oren said he first would appeal a unanimous Los Angeles County Planning Commission vote Thursday that rejected new zoning needed for his proposed $300-million residential and industrial project.

Commissioners complained that Oren’s proposed multiuse project was too large for the hilly grazing land. He had applied to build 1,012 condominiums and homes and almost a million square feet of industrial and warehouse space on the site, north of the Ventura Freeway at the eastern edge of the City of Agoura Hills, about 10 miles west of the San Fernando Valley.

The commissioners said Oren failed to follow the suggestion they made 20 months ago to prepare a reduced, more environmentally sensitive project for the land. At that time, Oren had sought zoning to allow 2,010 homes and the industrial park.

About Half of Ranch Sold

Last January, Oren sold about half the ranch to the National Park Service for parkland. Since that land no longer can be counted, commissioners said Thursday, Oren had done little to change the density of the project since his last application.

“We sent you home to do a new project and you returned with the same one,” Commissioner George Lefcoe told Oren’s representatives. “You shouldn’t insult us by saying you’re here with a new project.”

Lefcoe said Oren’s project would be 680% larger than current county zoning allows for the site.

David Breier, a lawyer representing Oren, had argued that 20% of the condominium units would be designated “affordable” housing and would fit in with nearby subdivisions.

“We don’t have a totally pristine area that we’re talking about,” Breier said. “This is an expanding urban area.”

No Opponents’ Testimony

Unswayed, the commissioners voted without calling upon any of the almost 100 opponents of the project gathered at the county Hall of Records to protest the proposal. Members of the panel said they had received about 600 letters opposing the development.

Oren, who was not present for the vote, said late Thursday that he had been braced for the rejection.

“I expected it. They know they are making the wrong decision. They just don’t want to go against the public,” he said. He said he would appeal the ruling to the county’s Board of Supervisors.

If that fails, he will seek zoning for luxury estates on the property, he said.

“Three hundred $1-million estates will be more viable, more profitable for me,” he said. “I can make money with their approval or without it. But I’d rather build something that not only I can make money on, but people who need it can afford.

“They are forcing people to live 100 miles from the city. They are clogging the freeways with people commuting every day to work. Is that what the county wants to do?”

Homeowners who opposed Oren’s earlier plans have said they would support a smaller development of single-family homes.