Official Who Broke Permit Rules Censured : Rolling Hills Estates: City Council reprimands Planning Commissioner Donald Landauer for building a garage without obtaining city approval.

Rolling Hills Estates Planning Commissioner Donald Landauer was censured by City Council members early Wednesday morning for failing to obtain necessary city approvals before building a garage on his property.

The 2-1 vote came after Councilwoman Jacki McGuire, who abstained from voting on the motion to admonish Landauer, repeated her earlier request that the 11-year Planning Commission veteran resign.

“He disregarded the rights of his neighbors, and he disregarded the rights of his community,” McGuire said. “Our credibility is just going to be shot to hell.”

Mayor Warren Schwarzmann said Landauer’s actions had embarrassed the city. He said residents who hold public office should be “more moral and better than the rest.”

However, Schwarzmann added, “I would like to give him a second chance.”

Landauer, who appeared at the meeting at the council’s request, said he accepted full responsibility for the code violations but added that they were unintentional. He blamed the violations on a hectic work schedule and his own failure to make sure that the contractor he hired to build the 608-square-foot garage followed proper city procedures.

“It was a mistake,” Landauer said. “It was an honest mistake.”

Landauer was cited by the city for failing to obtain the building permits after his next-door neighbor, Barry Benowitz, alerted Los Angeles County officials that no permits had been issued for the garage. The city contracts with the county for building services such as issuing permits.

After inspecting Landauer’s property on Empty Saddle Road next to a private equestrian club, the city also cited him for keeping five horses on his property. City law allows homeowners to keep a maximum of four horses.

Rolling Hills Estates city officials said Wednesday that Landauer has removed the fifth horse from his property. Landauer told the council that he had agreed to temporarily board the horse for a friend.

City officials also said Landauer has filed applications for the garage permits. A public hearing on the permit request will be held in September.

Officials have said Landauer could be forced to demolish the garage, built three years ago, if it was constructed in violation of building codes. If it meets the codes, Landauer would have to pay the city double the normal building fees, up to a maximum of $400.

The council’s vote came shortly after 2 a.m. Witnessing it were about 30 spectators who had sat through a long, regularly scheduled council meeting before the Landauer matter was heard.

Councilman Kenneth Servis abstained from discussing or voting on the matter because he had once received a campaign donation from Landauer.

Councilman Peter Weber voted against censuring Landauer but said in an interview after the meeting that Landauer should resign.

“If it were my own mother, I think that person should not stay in the position of planning commissioner because the residents look up to these people,” Weber said. “When you do things such as he did, I think the people will perceive there are some irregularities there. Whether there are is another matter.”

At the council meeting, those who spoke in support of Landauer included Planning Commission Chairman Frank Rutkowsky. Councilman Hugh Muller said there was no evidence that Landauer had “abused his power.”

“I think we should treat him like any other citizen should be treated,” Muller said.

Other speakers, however, disagreed, saying Landauer should not be treated like other residents because he holds a position of public trust.

McGuire and Benowitz repeated their earlier assertions that they saw Landauer building the garage himself.

“It’s ridiculous for me to have to stand up here and scold you like a baby,” Benowitz told Landauer.

Besides apologizing to council members, Landauer characterized himself as a victim. He maintained that too much attention had been paid to the matter because he is a planning commissioner, and he criticized the local media.

“This invasion of privacy is despicable,” he said.

Landauer also questioned whether McGuire should participate in the council’s discussion of the matter because she once received a $200 campaign contribution from a peninsula jewelry store with family ties to Barry Benowitz. Later, Landauer’s wife, Mae, her voice quavering with emotion, also confronted McGuire over the contribution and whether she could fairly judge her husband.

McGuire replied that she was not the issue. “I am not the one who started this whole nightmare by building an illegal garage,” she said.