Calabasas Asks County to OK 2nd Proposal for Cityhood

Backers of cityhood for Calabasas, encouraged by what they believe will be a rosier revenue picture for their second incorporation bid, on Tuesday asked a county agency to consider their proposal.

The Calabasas Cityhood Committee’s earlier incorporation effort was rejected in February, 1988, by the Local Agency Formation Commission, because the commission’s staff estimated that the proposed city would be $450,000 in debt after its first year in operation.

Cityhood committee vice president Doris LaViolette said Tuesday that the new bid for cityhood adds sales tax-generating commercial areas along Agoura Road, which were not included in the earlier proposal, and two car dealerships have been built along the Ventura Freeway. She said the population and property values in the area also have grown since the earlier incorporation effort.

“The revenue picture is better this time around,” said LaViolette, who presented documents required to initiate the incorporation process to LAFCO, which will rule on the matter. She said the committee is hoping the commission will approve the proposal in time to place it on the November, 1990, ballot.

LAFCO executive officer Ruth Benell said the commission staff will research the anticipated revenue of the proposal and balance them against the cost of replacing services now provided by the state and county. The commission will then hold public hearings to consider the issue. If LAFCO endorses the proposal, it then would have to win voter approval.

LaViolette said the proposed 14-square-mile city would be bordered on the east by the city of Los Angeles; on the west by the city of Agoura; on the north by the Ventura County line; and on the south by the Malibu Creek State Park.

The boundaries would also include a 550-house residential tract, proposed by the Irvine-based development company owned by Jim Baldwin. The cityhood committee reached a compromise with Baldwin, which called for him to reduce the number of houses he wanted to build by about two-thirds in exchange for the committee’s backing of his project. Baldwin also agreed to lobby LAFCO in favor of cityhood.

LaViolette said the proposed city would have about 8,500 registered voters and about 26,000 residents.