272-Acre Tract : Coast Panel Shaves Project to 26 Houses

In his war of attrition with the California Coastal Commission, Beverly Hills attorney-businessman Leonard M. Ross has lost another round.

Ruling Thursday on the latest revised plan for Ross’ 272-acre tract on Mulholland Highway east of Malibu Creek State Park, the commission refused to approve more house lots than the 34 it granted in two prior decisions.

In fact, Ross’ firm, Rossco Holdings, fared worse than before, gaining approval for 26 lots--with a possibility that eight more could be approved with favorable geologic reports.

“No comment,” Ross said after the panel, meeting in Marina del Rey, voted 9 to 2 to endorse its staff’s recommendation of 26 lots instead of the 52 that Rossco sought.

“They reached the wrong result again,” said Rossco attorney Sherman L. Stacey.

Asked if Rossco will again take the commission to court, Stacey replied: “We would reasonably expect to do so.”

Rossco has already filed five lawsuits against the Coastal Commission, some of them dormant, and none successful as yet. Four of the lawsuits attack commission decisions on Rossco land in Calabasas, which borders National Park Service holdings and has sometimes been called the Quaker tract.

No Jurisdiction

The fifth suit claims that the commission has no jurisdiction over a vast area of the Santa Monica Mountains well inland from the beach, including the Claretville Valley, where the Rossco tract is. If successful, the suit would eliminate commission land-use controls over hundreds of tracts in the mountains. Although the suit was dismissed last year by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge, a decision on the appeal is expected soon.

The Rossco tract, which includes flat meadows, oak woodlands, and steep and brushy mountain slopes, straddles Mulholland at a point where a highway turnout provides a vista of rugged peaks in Malibu Creek State Park.

In 1985 and 1986, Rossco sought approval for at least 47 lots, but the commission cut the tract to 34.

The main change since then was not in Ross’ favor. Eight lots that may be subject to instability or debris flows were approved on the condition that Rossco provide geological reports to satisfy Los Angeles County and commission staff. But a recent court ruling barred the commission from delegating such decisions to its staff, leading to approval this time of only 26 lots.

Along with the proposal for 52 lots, Rossco’s plan envisioned 212,500 cubic yards of grading. In limiting development to 26 lots, the staff held grading to 44,000 cubic yards, and required long setbacks of homes from oak woodlands and an intermittent stream.

Stacey called the conditions “completely arbitrary and capricious,” saying they were far more stringent than those imposed on other tracts in the area.

“It seems that a special set of rules has been developed which are being applied only to Rossco Holdings,” he complained in a letter to the commission.

Commissioner Donald McInnis of San Diego County agreed that Rossco was being treated unfairly. “It . . . appears to me to be a taking” of the land, he said.

But the Las Virgenes Homeowners Federation, an alliance of 16 Calabasas, Agoura and Agoura Hills groups, and the Cold Creek Property Owners Assn. submitted written statements supporting the staff recommendation.

‘Preservation of Views’

And most of the commissioners agreed with the staff, which said it sought to achieve “preservation of views and natural resources, while allowing a reasonable level of development.”

According to the staff report, the area could not “accommodate substantially intensified development due to a constrained road network, severe geologic and fire hazards, and the importance of the recreation and scenic resources of the mountains to the metropolitan Los Angeles area.”

For years, purchase of the Rossco tract had been a top priority of the National Park Service, which has gradually been building a network of parks and trails for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. Because of its scenic views and expanse of flat meadowlands, the land was considered perfect for camping or picnic grounds by park service officials.

But Ross and federal officials fought over who would appraise the land and during the years that its value was increasing by millions of dollars, the Reagan Administration was cutting park funds to the bone. In 1987, William Penn Mott, then director of the park service, angered local park supporters by informing Ross in a letter that he could pursue his development because there would not be enough money to buy his land.