Simi Council Denies Former Official’s ‘Dream House’ Plan : Development: A 2-2 vote leaves in place a city commission’s earlier rejection of the hillside project.

Fred Madjar’s four-year plan to build his “dream house” on a scenic hill in southern Simi Valley has taken a nightmarish turn.

More than a dozen of his neighbors urged City Council members Monday night to block the project, saying a house on the hillside could trigger flooding, fires and landslides. Specifically, they criticized the winding 960-foot-long driveway that Madjar, a former Simi Valley city planner, wants to build to reach his house.

The dispute was complicated by Madjar’s close ties to City Hall. Councilwoman Judy Mikels, whose gallery has framed fine art works for Madjar, removed herself from the case, as did a top planning administrator, who cited his close friendship with the developer.

After an emotional three-hour hearing, the remaining council members deadlocked 2 to 2 on the project. That left the Planning Commission’s unanimous denial in place, and Madjar’s dream house was dead--for now.

“I think it’s somewhat a misunderstanding,” Madjar said of his neighbors’ complaints. “I think some people didn’t understand what I’m doing.” He had not decided Tuesday whether to revise his plans so he can resubmit them to local authorities.

City officials acknowledged that some of the neighbors’ concerns were unfounded. Madjar’s project would probably improve drainage on the hillside and would pose no additional fire hazards, they said.

Yet at the heart of this neighborhood flap was an issue with citywide implications. As they opened the hearing, City Council members said their decision on Madjar’s house would send a signal to other builders who want to put more homes on the protected hillsides that surround and define Simi Valley.

“It was the tip of the iceberg, and I think we all realized that,” Mayor Greg Stratton, who voted against the dream house, said Tuesday. “This is a generic situation that’s going to occur and reoccur. We will continue to see projects coming in on hillsides and hills as the valley floor fills up.”

Madjar bought his hillside acreage at the southern end of Talbert Avenue in 1988, with an eye toward building a 3,000- to 4,000-square-foot house, designed especially for his small family and his art collection. “I always visualized a house there,” said Madjar, who now is a private planning consultant. “Never anywhere else.”

In June, Madjar asked the city’s Planning Commission to change the boundaries of two of the lots that he owns there, defining a new parcel on which he would build his dream house.

His neighbors protested, however, and the commission rejected the project. Commission members said Madjar’s proposed house was too close to a “visually prominent ridgeline,” which is protected by the city’s rigid hillside building rules.

Council members Bill Davis and Sandi Webb decided that the council should review the commission’s decision, saying the panel had misinterpreted the hillside protection rules. Davis said he viewed Madjar’s case as an opportunity to clarify the law.

Monday’s hearing roused Madjar’s neighbors to protest the project again. Annette DetwilerCheney asserted that the hillside was too unstable to support the proposed house. “Who pays for it when the hills come down into my back yard?” she asked.

But the project was finally stopped when the council tried to determine whether Madjar’s building site was indeed near a protected ridgeline. Davis and Webb said it was not, while Stratton and Councilman Michael Piper decided that it was.

Davis said Tuesday that the city’s definition of a protected ridgeline states that it must be visible continuously for 1,000 feet while driving along the Simi Valley Freeway. But the definition does not take into account trees and buildings that interrupt the view.

“We need to simplify and strengthen it so that you don’t have it where six different people can interpret it six different ways,” Davis said.

The council’s tie vote on Madjar’s project probably won’t settle the debate. “I’m not certain what kind of a message it sent to anybody,” Davis said.