Santa Monica Mountains : Luxury Housing Plan OKd

The Calabasas City Council has given final approval for the construction of a luxury housing project that residents reluctantly supported because it holds the promise of curtailing further development in the Santa Monica Mountains.

But environmentalists repeated their longstanding complaints that Micor Ventures’ Enclave project will destroy sensitive natural habitat when its 250 homes are built on 938 acres east of Las Virgenes Road.

At its meeting last week, the council took three actions Micor needed: approving its tract map, granting a permit to rip out or damage 464 oak trees and entering into a development agreement that guarantees the developer that future local growth-control ordinances will not affect the project in exchange for about $1.7 million in public improvements.