CALABASAS : Homeowners Fear Over-Development

A group of Old Topanga homeowners, fearful that the county’s lenient development ordinances will allow their neighborhood to become overbuilt, wants Calabasas to impose a moratorium on construction until the city completes its own set of regulations.

Old Topanga Homeowners Inc. spokesman Toby Keeler said residents are worried about the proliferation of tall, two-story houses they say are eyesores on hillsides along Old Topanga Canyon Road and other mountainous areas.

“The legacy of county development of rural areas is well known,” Keeler said. “People have been fighting it for years; that’s why we became a city.”

Calabasas, when it incorporated in 1991, adopted many of the county’s ordinances. It has since been working to come up with its own General Plan, as well as development ordinances that would place severe restrictions on construction in rural areas.

However, Community Development Director Steve Harris says he thinks a total moratorium is unnecessary. The city, he said, has “managed to regulate development” through various scenic corridor ordinances, and through its requirements for site plan reviews.

Harris said he nevertheless plans to meet with the Old Topanga homeowners to discuss their concerns.

Planning Commission member Mike Tingus agreed with Harris, but said Old Topanga residents have good reason to worry about rapid development in their neighborhood. “I see a head of steam building up, and people are buying up property,” he said. “Somebody could basically come up and buy, say, 10 lots, and put a subdivision in there.”

Tingus said he wants the city to prohibit construction of large, two-story homes in scenic areas. “We don’t want to take away the development rights of anyone,” he said. “But we want to make sure the homes conform to the terrain.”