Council Race Centers on Issue the Winners Won’t Decide

The controversial Westlake North development proposal is dominating this year’s campaign for the Westlake Village City Council, but any challenger elected Nov. 7 probably would not have the chance to vote on the project.

That is because the council has scheduled its hearings on Westlake North for Nov. 15 and 16--after the election but before the new council takes office.

The four challengers in the campaign for three council posts want the project delayed until Dec. 6, when any new council members would be seated. But a majority of the present council, including two incumbents seeking reelection, oppose such a delay.

All agree that Westlake North will be the most significant single project in the city’s eight-year history. It would be built on about 130 acres of vacant land north of the Ventura Freeway and east of Lindero Canyon Road.

The developers, Westlake Village Associates, originally proposed 400 apartments or condominiums along with six-story buildings that would be part of 1.5 million square feet of commercial space. This month, the development firm, run by Daniel K. Ludwig, slightly reduced the proposal.

Ludwig, who developed most of Westlake Village, is calling for only 250 units, along with a 4.3-acre park that was not previously included. The maximum building height was reduced to five stories, with commercial buildings moved farther from the freeway. But the overall commercial area’s square footage was reduced by only 6,000 square feet.

Despite the reductions, Westlake North was roundly criticized at a City Council candidates forum Thursday night.

“The developers of Westlake North have a fundamentally flawed project, and it should go back to the drawing board,” candidate James E. Emmons said.

“There is no legal reason for us to vote on Westlake North with the sitting council,” candidate Douglas R. Yarrow said.

But there are many practical reasons for the vote, according to council members Bonnie Klove and Irwin A. Shane, who are seeking third terms on the council. The project was supposed to have been decided earlier this year but was delayed because of the need for a comprehensive traffic study, said Klove, who favors further reductions in Westlake North.

To put the complex project into the hands of a new council would throw the city’s consideration of it into disarray, she said.

“The developers are anxious to get started,” Shane said. “To defer it any further would serve no purpose.” Shane vowed to oppose development of a nearby golf course owned by the same developer, who is offering to leave the golf course alone in return for approval of Westlake North.

Not seeking reelection is Mayor Franklin D. Pelletier, who is one force behind the five-member council’s intention to make the Westlake North decision before he leaves office.

Pelletier said he sees the Westlake North decision as “a fulfillment of my eight years on the City Council.” He said the timing of the decision is a result of the planning process and, as a member of the council, “I’m charged with the responsibility of making the decisions.”

Westlake North has dwarfed other campaign issues. At the forum Thursday, candidates talked about parks, programs for seniors, the pros and cons of banning gas-powered leaf blowers and the offensiveness of campaign signs.

Also on the Westlake Village ballot is an initiative to override the city’s constitutional spending limit. Several candidates Thursday emphasized the importance of the initiative’s passage to help the city finance construction of a new City Hall and library.

The candidates are:

* Emmons, 34, who was Westlake Village’s city manager from 1982 to 1988. He is banking on his working knowledge of the city government. He said his “vision for the 1990s” includes additional drug education and awareness, programs for retirees and the city’s teen-agers, and a thriving library, the construction of which is already planned.

* Sybil Nisenholz, 47, a vocational teacher. A resident of Oak Forest Mobile Home Park, she has been active in the park’s conversion to resident ownership and helped lead the opposition to a proposed spa near Triunfo Creek. She has promised fresh and energetic leadership and proposes doubling police service from one full-time Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department patrol car to two.

* Klove, 68, an eight-year member of the council. Klove started programs for Westlake Village seniors such as Meals on Wheels and a subsidized taxi service. Klove noted that an additional full-time patrol car would cost $500,000; she said it should only be considered if the Sheriff’s Department finds that the city needs an extra patrol.

* Shane, 75, the other two-term incumbent in the race. A retired educator, Shane founded the city’s Cultural Foundation, which stages musical events in Westlake Village. Shane is asking voters to reelect him because “we’ve run a good city so far. We’ve had no problems, very few problems.”

* Joanne Robinson, 55, office manager for the California Highway Patrol’s West Valley office. She has been active in the city’s 1981 incorporation drive, the Watergate Homeowners’ Assn. and the Cultural Foundation.

* Yarrow, 43, a computer executive and president of the Westlake Trails Homeowners Assn. Yarrow organized opposition that persuaded the council this year to move its planned library and City Hall site from a residential area to an industrial park. Yarrow says he offers more balance on the council because he would be the only member with children in Westlake Village schools.