Angry Builder Threatens Suit Over Rezoning : Development: Albert Cohen has been attempting for years to get approval for a project in Thousand Oaks. He says the council is depriving him of his civil rights.

Developer Albert Cohen on Wednesday pleaded with the Thousand Oaks City Council to help him draft an acceptable project for his Newbury Park parcel--and then threatened to sue when the council moved to downzone his property.

In a fiery early morning speech before exhausted council members, whose eight-hour meeting began Tuesday night and approached a new city record, Cohen said he was tired of “getting beaten up” by neighbors and the council whenever he proposed a development.

And he accused the council of denying him the right to develop his property when it voted 4 to 1 to initiate a zone change that could ultimately rule out commercial buildings on the 47-acre parcel southwest of Reino Road and Kimber Drive.

Cohen vowed to sue the city in federal court for a violation of his civil rights.

For more than 12 years, Cohen and his father have been seeking to develop their land, which has already been rezoned twice and is now designated for mixed commercial and medium-density residential use.

At least a dozen public hearings, community meetings and mediation sessions with independent consultants have failed to break the logjam over what type of development would best suit the plot, a triangular swatch thickly covered with trees and sensitive wetlands.

“I feel it’s responsible and responsive to take a look at (rezoning) this piece of land now,” Mayor Judy Lazar said. “I have supported commercial projects there in the past, but at this point I don’t think that’s appropriate. But I have no intention of denying the right to use the land.”

City Atty. Mark Sellers said the City Council was fully within its rights to rezone the property, since the developers have not yet come up with an acceptable project.

But Cohen furiously objected.

The Ventura County Flood Control District has expressed interest in buying part of his land for a water-retention basin and will decide next week whether to proceed with an appraisal. Downzoning the property would diminish the land value and cheat him of a fair rate, Cohen said.

“We invested in a piece of commercial property, we paid the previous owner based on it being a commercial property and we’ve been paying taxes to the county based on its commercial zoning for the past 12 years,” Cohen said.

Already, Cohen and his father have sunk millions into various development schemes and legal fees.

Their latest blueprint, for a shopping mall and 170 homes, was rejected by the council last year.

Throwing up his hands in disgust, Cohen stalked out of the room shaking his head when the council voted to initiate the zone change. The process could take several months and requires public hearings.

Councilman Alex Fiore, who generally champions business and development, was Cohen’s lone supporter in the 4-1 vote.

“This applicant has diligently pursued development for the last 14 years and has not achieved it,” Fiore said. “We should help him find a project that fits the existing zoning.”