TRIUNFO CANYON : OK for Restaurant, Picnic Site Expected

A planned outdoor restaurant and 23-acre picnic spot in the Agoura area will probably be approved, despite protests from neighbors who fear increased traffic on the winding, hillside roads, a Los Angeles County planning official said Tuesday.

Fantasy Island, a theme park with a full restaurant, picnic tables, fish ponds, waterfalls, mood lighting and nature paths on Triunfo Canyon Road just north of Lobo Canyon Road, is expected to be approved by Los Angeles County’s Regional Planning Commission within several weeks, said John Shea, a commission planning assistant. Initial plans were approved earlier and construction started, but the project was returned to planners for review after its size changed.

Fantasy Island co-developer Avi Datner said the private park, which meets the area’s zoning code, “will be a place mostly for families during the day and for couples who want to be somewhere romantic at night.”

But some residents of the two canyons that share an access road with the Fantasy Island property worry that increased traffic from the park could pose a fire hazard to people and the large number of horses in the area.

“It would make a good disaster movie,” resident Leah Culberg said. “You have all these people who are not familiar with the place trying to get out in their cars along with all the horses and the people. It would be terrible.”