Vote Delayed on Paying Builder for Land Gift : Calabasas: A Mello-Roos district is established, but supervisors have not decided what the money will pay for.

Los Angeles County supervisors Tuesday failed to approve a controversial development plan under which a Calabasas builder would be paid from tax funds for parkland and a school site he had agreed to donate.

The supervisors approved establishment of a community facilities district in part of Calabasas but postponed for several months a decision on what the district will pay for.

The district would be set up under the Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act, which authorizes local governments to sell bonds to finance community improvements, then tax future property owners in the district to repay the debt.

The Baldwin Co. had promised during negotiations with neighbors and county officials over the past two years to donate 648 acres in the area for parklands and schools in exchange for permission to build 550 residences, stores and a church on hilly property--about four times the density allowed in county plans.

Last month, the company said it wanted to be reimbursed for the land out of the bond income, which was also expected to pay for improvements to roads, water pipes and widening the Parkway Calabasas interchange on the Ventura Freeway.

Calabasas community leaders, who agreed not to object to the development because of the land gift, charge that including it in the district amounts to reneging on their original agreement.

Supervisors Ed Edelman and Mike Antonovich agreed and Supervisor Pete Schabarum said he too had some misgivings about the proposal. After several hours of discussion and debate, they sidestepped the issue by approving the district, with Edelman voting no, but deleting all mention of how much money would be raised and what it would be used for.

Robert Burns, president of The Baldwin Co., said Tuesday that the company probably would refuse to cooperate in establishment of the the district if it was not paid for the parkland. The company must approve use of its land and the houses to be built there, as collateral for the bonds.

County Public Works Director Thomas A. Tidemanson said that if The Baldwin Co. did not participate in the district, the district would not be able to raise enough money to pay the county to improve and widen the Calabasas interchange on the Ventura Freeway.