CALABASAS : City Criticized for Not Expanding Panel

The president of an influential homeowners organization Wednesday lashed out at the Calabasas City Council for refusing to appoint any new members to a task force set up to help draw a master plan for a planned office and retail center.

“They have offended a lot of people,” said Toby Keeler of the Las Virgenes Homeowners Federation Inc., an umbrella organization representing various homeowners groups. “I don’t know where they are coming from to tell you the truth.”

The federation and other local groups had urged the council to expand the original seven-member task force to include members from their organizations.

But the council, at a Feb. 15 meeting, surprised many residents when it chose not to appoint any of the nine candidates put forward.

Council members defended their actions, saying they decided that adding additional members would have made the panel unwieldy. In any case, they said, the existing committee already includes both supporters and critics of the project.

“It’s not possible to have 100% democracy on this thing,” said Councilman Bob Hill.

The City Council approved the project in December on the condition that developer John Kilroy work with the task force to make his project more palatable to critics. The panel will help draw a master plan for the Calabasas Park Centre, a 1.3-million-square-foot office and retail center at Calabasas Road and Parkway Calabasas.

Keeler said that the federation’s candidate, Scott Solomon, a real estate attorney, has a solid background in planning issues and would have been a good addition to the task force.

Hill said the task force already has qualified members. He cited as an example James Leewong, a lawyer with a background in planning issues, and Planning Commission member Bill Pauli, an architect who has worked on projects in the area.

Carol Amenta, executive director of the Calabasas Chamber of Commerce, said she was disappointed that the council did not approve two candidates put forward by her organization, whom she declined to name. City officials have identified the chamber candidates as Julie Davine and Charles Gold.

“I still would like to see the chamber represented, but I don’t know how that’s going to happen now,” she said.

According to Mayor Karyn Foley, Keeler’s organization and the chamber already have representatives on the task force. Michael Brockman is a member of the Las Virgenes Homeowners Federation and Barbara Reineke is a member of the chamber, she said.