Builder’s Offer of $500,000 Gift Ignites Debate : Canyon Oaks: Some say cash for ‘community benefits’ shows a willingness to cooperate. Critics call it a golden muzzle.

John Ingersoll never fancied himself a developer.

But if and when a controversial housing project at the top of Topanga Canyon is ever allowed to be built, Ingersoll and his neighbors in the rustic mountain community may just find themselves in the development business.

That’s because the developers of Canyon Oaks Estates are donating $500,000 to Topanga residents to help build a recreation center, community theater or hiking trails--whichever the community chooses.

There is a catch, however.

If the proposed 97-house project and private golf course is rejected by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, the community doesn’t get a dime, causing some to question whether the so-called “community benefits” program is anything more than a community bribe.

“It can be viewed as a bribe,” acknowledged Ingersoll, an engineer who is leading a drive to use the money to build a community theater. “Nonetheless, it’s a benefit to the community. We are trading one thing for another. Under the circumstances, it’s a positive development.”

Supporters such as Ingersoll say the donation reflects the developer’s sensitivity to the community and willingness to work with residents to make the project work after 14 years of false starts and delays.

But critics contend that the money is a golden muzzle intended to buy the community’s silence on the project’s adverse effects on the environment. They say the donation creates a conflict of interest because some residents will be afraid to speak their mind for fear of offending the developer--and losing the cash.

“We view it as part of their ongoing publicity campaign,” said Susan Nissman, one of the project’s most outspoken opponents. “When you peel back the layers of hype and publicity, you find the same old horrible project underneath.”

Cash donations are becoming a more and more common method of dulling the criticisms of community groups opposed to new development. Experts say an upfront outlay of cash to win community support can save developers thousands of dollars in delays and lawsuits later.

“It’s a straight buyoff of the community without any serious effort to develop a nexus between the project and specific offsetting actions,” said Alan Altshuler, an urban policy and planning professor at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Altshuler said the practice is a natural outgrowth of demands by local governments for concessions from developers--such as paying for street improvements or fire stations--in exchange for permits. Local governments, however, are bound by laws that restrict their ability to exact concessions.

But in private deals struck outside hearing rooms, there are no rules dictating what is ethical when developers and homeowners sit down at the bargaining table. “I can’t say I find this outrageous,” Altshuler said. “I merely find it a little more overt.”

Cash donations are most common in Southern California, where the hurly-burly growth of the 1980s honed the negotiating skills of residents groups. The most notorious transactions included Westside homeowners who were paid $250,000 to drop their opposition to the Ma Maison Sofitel hotel, and Sylmar residents who accepted $300,000 to support a proposed business park.

Some groups, however, refuse to take developer money. Richard Close, president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn., said his group refused to sign off on a deal in which a developer would donate $500,000 to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy in exchange for the residents’ support.

“Our policy is we don’t take money,” Close said. “We want solutions to the problems. It can be viewed as a payoff for public purposes and can lead one to believe that if the developer pays enough money, he can build whatever he wants.”

But Charles McLaughlin, general manager of the Canyon Oaks project, said the situation in Topanga is different because his company has taken the initiative instead of simply caving in to residents’ demands.

“I believe this is the first time in Southern California, maybe in all of California, that a developer has taken the initiative and invited neighbors and residents to participate,” McLaughlin said.

Over the last several months, supporters of the project have presented three ideas on how to use the money--to build a recreation center or a community theater or to expand the canyon’s network of hiking and equestrian trails.

Earlier this summer, Canyon Oaks sent out nearly 14,000 ballots asking residents within a five-mile radius of the project to vote on how they wanted the money to be spent. The results will be announced this morning.

Whichever project wins, residents will be responsible for raising any extra money and for securing permits and environmental reviews. If the project is not completed in five years, the money will be donated to charity, McLaughlin said.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Ed Edelman, who represents Topanga Canyon, said that although Canyon Oaks is trying to raise community support, the board ultimately will not consider the $500,000 donation in deciding whether the project will be built.

“The project is going to have to stand or fall on its own merits,” Edelman said. “To the extent that the developer can broaden community support for the project, that could help him. But ultimately the issue will be decided on its own intrinsic merits.”