County Planners Reject Proposal for Health-Spa Facility in Triunfo Canyon

The Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission on Tuesday rejected plans for a proposed luxury health spa in a valley just east of Westlake Village, to the delight of a group of nearby homeowners.

The five commissioners voted unanimously to deny conditional-use and oak-tree permits to Westlake Village interior designer Jean Curtis and her husband, Doug, a movie producer. The couple want to build a $20-million spa complex, specializing in stress management for executives, on a 48-acre site in Triunfo Canyon.

Curtis has an option to purchase the land from Thousand Oaks developer John Byrd, who has secured tentative approval to build 70 homes in the valley. The spa would be built on land Byrd had planned to use for 20 of the homes.

In voting against the spa, commissioners followed a staff conclusion that the development would be too intensive for the site.

The site contains oak and sycamore trees, is crossed by Triunfo Creek and is home to numerous birds and animals. It is zoned for resort and recreational use, but commission members said the site is better suited to a golf course, stable, summer camp, picnic ground or other low-density recreational use than a spa.

Curtis has three weeks to appeal the decision to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. She said she will consult with her financial backers, whom she refused to name, before deciding whether to appeal.

“I’m obviously elated,” said Dr. Albert R. Greenfeld, spokesman for the Coalition of Concerned Citizens, a group of several hundred homeowners opposed to the project. “We’re obviously one step closer now to preserving this land for all generations.”

Greenfeld said the group will lobby the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy to purchase the land and will help the Conservancy raise money for the acquisition.

Residents, about two dozen of whom attended the commission meeting, say the spa development would mar the valley’s beauty, chase away wildlife and increase noise, traffic and fire danger.

Curtis’ plans call for a two-story, 33,000-square-foot Italian Mediterranean-style main building and nine smaller buildings, each with 10 guest rooms. The spa would have up to 126 guests who would pay $2,500 for a week’s stay.