Board Changes in More Ways Than One

There have been many signs of change in Los Angeles County government since control of the Board of Supervisors shifted from conservatives to liberals with last month’s election of Gloria Molina. But no other decision of the new board has carried the profound implications of its vote against a new housing development in Topanga Canyon.

The proposed Montevideo Country Club has been controversial since it was first announced more than 12 years ago. Residents of Topanga and other nearby communities in the Santa Monica Mountains have been divided over whether the 257-acre project would damage the semi-rural lifestyle of the canyon, or enhance property values because of the new amenities it would bring, including an equestrian center, tennis club and golf course.

Because of the controversy, the previous Board of Supervisors had scaled the Montevideo project back over the years. It originally included 224 homes, a hotel and a shopping center. By last week it included just 97 homes and a golf and tennis center. In the old days, that would have been enough to allow the project to breeze through the approval process.

Not any more.

The supervisors rejected even the scaled-back project 3-1, and Molina’s swing vote on the five-member board wasn’t the only reason. The court-ordered district realignment that helped her get elected also put Topanga Canyon in liberal Supervisor Ed Edelman’s district rather than that of conservative Mike Antonovich. Edelman led the fight against Montevideo, while Antonovich was conspicuously absent.

It’s unlikely that Topanga Canyon residents have heard the last of this, of course. The developers are angry and a lawsuit is pending against the county over allegedly unreasonable delays of the project. But for now the significance of the board’s action is in the message it sends.

Recently, residents of Los Angeles have been taking a new, more critical--maybe even hypercritical--look at their sprawling city and not liking what they see. More congestion. More traffic. More smog. And not enough water, especially after five years of drought. Angelenos have begun to question the conventional wisdom that growth is, by definition, good.

But that questioning attitude was not always reflected in local government. Politicians were just too dependent on contributions from developers to ask the tough questions. Now it looks as if the Board of Supervisors is not only willing to ask tough questions, but to give tough answers--like “No.”

If that attitude reflects a permanent change, politics hereabouts--and growth--will never be the same.