Agoura Hills Dispute : Public Hearing to Be Held on Future of Medfield Street

The Agoura Hills City Council voted unanimously Wednesday night to hold a public hearing Sept. 7 on whether to reopen controversial Medfield Street.

The city Public Works Department has recommended that if the street is reopened, it should be restricted to eastbound traffic with a ban on trucks.

Los Angeles County officials closed Medfield Street earlier this month after residents in the Old Agoura area objected to traffic and noise it brought to their semirural neighborhood.

But the street was one of only two direct routes from two industrial parks to the Ventura Freeway. The other route goes through the intersection of Kanan Road and Canwood Street, the city’s worst intersection for traffic accidents.

The resulting traffic congestion has divided the city’s residents, with some supporting the Medfield closure and others arguing that it causes intolerable traffic problems.

Medfield Street was built in 1978 by the Dale Poe Development Corp. as a temporary route for construction traffic into its industrial park. Los Angeles County never officially approved the road, and neither the county nor the city has been willing to accept legal liability for it.

The council also decided Wednesday to deny a $15-million claim for damages by the Poe corporation, which alleged that the value of its industrial park was damaged by the street closure. A spokesman for the firm said it had not decided whether to file suit.