15 Malibou Lake Homes : Action Delayed on Agoura Project

The Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission, saying more information is needed, postponed action Wednesday on a developer’s proposal to build luxury homes on the site of an old lodge once frequented by Hollywood stars.

Malibou Lake resident Jack Slome and two partners are seeking permission to build 15 luxury homes and a stable on the 4.6-acre site of the Malibou Lakeside Lodge, a now-vacant vacation retreat built in the 1920s that claimed Clark Gable and Carole Lombard among its clientele. The lodge, unused for years, is in county territory in Agoura.

The five-member commission unanimously voted to postpone action until March 31 while the county staff gathers more information about fire and flood hazards and the possible need for another road to serve the neighborhood.

About 40 members of the Malibou Lakeside Homeowners Assn., who chartered a bus to downtown Los Angeles to ask commissioners to veto the development, applauded the decision.

The residents contend that the development is too dense for the property and would clash with the rural ambiance of their neighborhood, a hodgepodge of about 100 small houses and cabins.

The planning staff recommended denial of the zone change from commercial to residential and permits required to build the homes because only one public road serves the neighborhood.

Slome has offered to widen Crags Road from one lane to two. But John Schwarze, county planning administrator, said a second road is needed to comply with the county’s subdivision ordinance.

The only other access is a gated, unpaved fire road at the eastern end of Crags Drive. That road, however, is not open to the public and is available only in emergencies.

Attorney Arthur K. Snyder, a former Los Angeles city councilman who represents the developer, said in an interview that county officials had earlier contended that the lack of another road into the area is not a problem.

Snyder told commissioners that Slome has been approached by investors interested in building a private club. That would create more traffic than the 15 homes Slome wants to build, he said.