Homeowners’ Lawsuit Prevails : Judge Halts Toluca Lake Apartment Job

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge Friday ordered a halt to construction of an apartment building in a neighborhood of single-family homes in Toluca Lake.

Judge John L. Cole’s ruling came in a lawsuit brought by the Toluca West Homeowners Assn. The suit challenged the city’s issuance of a building permit for the three-story, 39-unit project at 4651 Cahuenga Blvd., a few blocks north of the Ventura Freeway.

City attorneys had contended that plans for the project had been filed before the City Council voted April 4 to make zoning conform to more restrictive community plans. Although zoning permitted construction of an apartment building, the community plan allowed for development of only two single-family homes.

Benjamin M. Reznik, the homeowners’ attorney, argued that the developer, Cal-X of Woodland Hills, had changed the scope of the project from the original design filed with the city before the council action. To be “grandfathered” under the law, the final plans had to be similar to the originals. Reznik asserted that the developer filed hastily drafted blueprints with the city to beat the effective date of the ordinance requiring more restrictive zoning.

Plans Called Stolen

Cole asked to see the original plans, but Martin Jaeger, attorney for the developer, said they had been stolen.

Cole said the developer’s failure to produce the original plans indicates “such a carelessness that one suspects whether the final plan” complies with the original.

Cole’s ruling prohibits further work on the project until the city determines whether the project conforms to the community plan.

“‘The project is dead,” Reznik told a group of his clients gathered outside the courtroom after the ruling. He said he was confident that city planners would decide that the project does not conform to the community plan, but he advised the homeowners to be prepared to fight before the City Council if planners decide otherwise.

Should Cole’s decision stand up on appeal, the developer will be required to fill in a hole, the only work that has been done on the property, Reznik said. Cal-X is permitted to build the two single-family homes allowed under the community plan.

Reznik said he expects the developer to take the case to the state Court of Appeal.