County OKs Homes in Malibu : Development: On the eve of cityhood, supervisors allow 15 luxury houses opposed by neighbors.

In its last major land-use decision involving Malibu, on the eve of the community becoming a city, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has approved a developer’s plan to build 15 luxury homes overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

By a 3-2 vote, the supervisors Tuesday approved plans by developer Leonard Jaffe to build the houses on 17 1/2 acres he owns in an exclusive enclave of multimillion-dollar estates.

Angry opponents accused the supervisors of railroading the project despite opposition from Malibu’s slow-growth-oriented City Council, which takes office tonight in a ceremony marking the inauguration of Malibu as the county’s 87th city.

Some of the city’s leaders called the action a last act of revenge by officials smarting over the apparent collapse of the county’s longtime effort to build a controversial sewer system in Malibu.

“I’m sure there was supposed to be a little message in it for us,” Councilwoman-elect Missy Zeitsoff said.

She said that Tuesday’s vote “not only gives a black eye to the people of Malibu, but it also gives a black eye to the county’s own planners, whose judgment was that this was a bad project from the word go.”

The county Regional Planning Commission voted 4 to 0 in January to reject the project, siding with residents of the exclusive Winding Way subdivision who argued that it would be out of character with the other homes in the area.

But at the urging of Supervisor Deane Dana on Tuesday, a majority upheld Jaffe’s appeal of the commission’s decision. Supervisors Ed Edelman and Gloria Molina dissented.

“I guess this was Deane Dana’s final slap in the face for the people of Malibu,” said Martin Duff, who heads a homeowner group that opposes the project.

Although the action means that the project will not need the approval of Malibu’s city government, it still must be approved by the California Coastal Commission.

In an interview, Jaffe expressed confidence that the Coastal Commission will approve the project, adding, “I feel that an injustice has been righted.”

The developer had argued that it would be unfair to keep him from building the houses after the county in 1987 levied a $485,000 assessment for a local improvement district, based on a potential for as many as 17 houses there. Including interest, the assessment exceeds $1 million, he said.

“They can’t have it both ways,” Jaffe said. “For the county to come along and say now you shouldn’t be able to develop your property would have been unfair, and a majority of supervisors recognized that.”

Malibu’s leaders have opposed the project, as they have other development proposals, saying voters who overwhelmingly approved cityhood last June expect such matters to be left to the new city government to decide.

The county stopped accepting applications for subdivisions and conditional-use permits last March, when the supervisors set the date for Malibu’s cityhood election. The Winding Way proposal was among the last major projects in the pipeline before the cutoff.

Residents argue that the project threatens to ruin the property values of their estates, saying Jaffe wants to build houses on lots with an average size of less than half an acre next to estates with lots that range from two to seven acres.

Duff said the 100 people who signed a petition opposing Jaffe’s plans are not opposed to his developing the property, “but as long as he wants to build that many houses in such a constricted area, it will be totally out of character with the existing community.”

As proposed, Jaffe wants to build the houses on about two-thirds of the property, with most of the rest of his land to be donated to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy as parkland.

But opponents question the proposed gift to the conservancy, saying nearly all of the land Jaffe would be giving up is either part of an active landslide or borders a protected stream and could not be developed anyway.

Meanwhile, the homeowner group has accused conservancy officials of engaging in a sellout for agreeing to withdraw its opposition to the developer’s original plans for the property.

Last October, the conservancy expressed concern that the project might be out of character with the density of the neighboring homes. However, after Jaffe offered to donate land to the conservancy, its officials in December said their concerns about the project had been satisfied.