THOUSAND OAKS : Court Rejects Review of Cohan Decision

A state appellate court has refused a request by Thousand Oaks to revisit a ruling made last month which said the City Council unfairly denied a developer his rights to build a Newbury Park project.

The court’s refusal Tuesday to rehear the case brought by developer Albert Cohan and his family was viewed by the Cohans as a victory, but by no means the end of the 15-year battle they have waged with Thousand Oaks.

“What this means to us is that we are going to get a project,” Cohan said. “But they could still appeal to the Supreme Court and hold us up for another three months.”

City officials have not yet decided whether to appeal the ruling by the 2nd District Court of Appeals.

As it stands, the court’s decision could open up the city to a multimillion-dollar lawsuit. Already, the Cohans have threatened to seek damages for revenue lost to years of delay on their proposed 47-acre development.

The ruling also appeared to limit the tools cities can use to block development projects, causing a ripple of alarm among city officials throughout California.

The court Tuesday included three pages of modifications to its original ruling. It specifically addressed a common practice in Thousand Oaks whereby the City Council can choose to appeal Planning Commission rulings to itself, as it did in the Cohan case.

“Our holding should not be read as invalidating all appeals taken by a city council or other governing body to itself from a decision of a subordinate agency,” the court states.

It goes on to say that the city should have provided the Cohans with an explanation for the appeal. The justices also held that an individual elected official could have made the appeal and then removed himself from voting on it.

“I think perhaps the court or judge is trying to backpedal a little,” Councilwoman Judy Lazar said.

But Cohan’s attorney, Wendy Lascher, said the added paragraphs about the appeal process bolstered the original ruling.