Some Residents Upset : 1st Step Taken to Open ‘Back Door’ to Park Calabasas

A construction plan that would give the exclusive Calabasas Park community its first “back door” has passed its first test with Los Angeles County officials.

A county planning department hearing officer has authorized the removal of 10 oak trees in the path of a proposed mile-long roadway between Parkway Calabasas and Mulholland Highway.

The planned two-lane street would run from the intersection of Parkway Calabasas and Park Entrada south to a point near the intersection of Dry Canyon-Cold Creek Road and Mulholland Highway. It would pass through a canyon south of Calabasas Park Golf Course.

Secondary Escape Route

The county believes that the road is needed as a secondary escape route for thousands of Calabasas Park residents in the event of a brush fire or earthquake.

It would also provide a handy route to school for Calabasas Park students who attend Calabasas High School, as well as a shortened route through the mountains for San Fernando Valley beachgoers.

But the plan has drawn fire from residents of a rural Calabasas neighborhood who have complained that it would mean increased development in their area.

“All this will do is bring urbanization into an area that’s shown on the county master plan as being rural,” said Catherine Cappel, one of the opponents.

“It points a loaded gun at this area. It would be a shortcut to the high school and the beach. Building a road through there would ruin this area.”

Cappel charged at a planning department hearing on Tuesday that the road would open more than 200 acres of empty range south of Calabasas Park to development for the first time.

Envisions Exclusive Route

Developer Larry Dinowitz said he wants the road to be a private, gate-guarded street accessible only to residents of a new, 250-home luxury subdivision he hopes to build near the golf course. He said the road is required before the new homes, to be priced from $500,000 up, can be built.

“It would be a second means of exit from the golf course area,” Dinowitz said Wednesday. “One of the requirements of the tract map is we have a secondary exit.”

County officials, however, say plans now call for the road to be open to everyone.

“Currently, it’s shown to be a public road,” said Richard Frazier, a planner who handles variances and permits for the county planning department. “Whether it would be gate-guarded hasn’t been decided yet.”

Frazier said the road plans themselves have not been approved by the county, even though the oak removal permit has been granted. He said the tree permit will not be issued until the road itself is approved.