Environmentalists Criticize Calabasas on Housing Project : Development: Foes of a plan to build 250 luxury homes say the effects have not been adequately considered and the builder is getting preferential treatment.

Environmentalists lashed out at the Calabasas City Council on Wednesday, accusing members of playing favorites with a developer who wants to build 250 luxury homes in a secluded canyon east of Las Virgenes Road.

In a tense two-hour hearing, a dozen opponents of Micor Ventures’ Enclave project said the council has not adequately considered the environmental effects of the development.

They also contended that builder Michael Rosenfeld is being given preferential treatment by council members, hinting that a secret deal was worked out before the city incorporated last year.

“Whatever moral obligations you feel you have vis-a-vis this applicant, they are outweighed by the legal and moral duties you have assumed since May, 1991,” when the city was incorporated, said Frank Angel, the attorney for an environmental group suing the city over Micor’s proposed project.

Opponents have contended that the council feels indebted to Rosenfeld, who agreed to seek annexation of his property to Calabasas and process his development through the city instead of Los Angeles County, which now has jurisdiction over the land.

Rosenfeld will donate about 700 of the property’s 938 acres as open space.

Some project supporters believe that if the city or an environmental agency gains control of the land, it can prevent the proposed expansion of nearby Soka University by restricting access on Las Virgenes Road.

Charges of favoritism and back-room dealing drew sharp responses from council members.

“We vote on issues, not personalities,” Councilwoman Karyn Foley said.

“I really resent those comments,” Mayor Bob Hill said. “That’s a real ugly ploy to pull on someone who has spent as much time on this as we have.”

Wednesday’s hearing was the second time that Micor’s project has been considered by the council.

In April, the council unanimously approved increasing the zoning on property acres to allow all the 250 units requested by Micor.

Prior to April, zoning in the area allowed 81 homes.

The property is outside the city’s boundaries, but an application is pending before the Los Angeles County Local Agency Formation Commission to annex all 938 acres into Calabasas.

For that reason, Rosenfeld is processing his permits and plans through the city.

April’s vote, however, was challenged in a lawsuit filed by Save Open Space, which claimed that the council violated state procedures for circulating the project’s environmental impact report.

City officials deny they did anything wrong but scheduled another hearing anyway.

Wednesday night, the council reaffirmed its April vote, unanimously approving zoning that would allow all 250 homes.

But the hearing provided a second opportunity for opponents to criticize the project and the council.

Even one of the council’s staunchest supporters, Las Virgenes Homeowners Federation Vice President David Brown, said he was disappointed with the council’s approval of the zoning.

“I’ve got rather turbulent emotions, as if one found one’s clergyman or rabbi in a waterfront dive or something,” he said. “I’m sorry to see the council in this position.”