Scenic Corridor Disputes Likely to Be Repeated

In your recent article about the fear of overdevelopment in the Old Topanga enclave of the city of Calabasas, Community Development Director Steven K. Harris said he thinks a moratorium is unnecessary because the city “has managed to regulate development” through scenic corridor ordinances and requirements for site plan review.

If scenic corridors are truly important to the city of Calabasas, why hasn’t it responded to the Las Virgenes Municipal School District’s plan to construct a 72-square-foot lighted marquee sign atop a 10-foot pylon in front of A.E. Wright Middle School on Las Virgenes Road, a designated scenic corridor?

The school district previously put up a similar marquee in front of Calabasas High School without contacting the city, and it caused a furor because it was far too bright. Its position along Mulholland Highway--also a designated scenic corridor--was never properly evaluated and approved by a traffic engineer. The ensuing war of words over who had the right to put up what where put the city and state-controlled school district squarely at odds.

The stage is now set for this whole episode to repeat itself in a different neighborhood. The city has yet to officially respond to the district’s plan for this new sign. As a state agency, the district maintains it is exempt from local ordinances such as the scenic corridor ordinance. By its lack of response, it appears the city agrees.

Large lighted signs on a scenic corridor were never supposed to appear in the city of Calabasas. This makes the folks in Old Topanga wonder how strong the city’s response will be when our scenic corridor is once again threatened with overdevelopment.

And does a middle school really need a marquee sign? Why not spend the $7,000-plus on computers and software? Local citizens drafted and adopted the Scenic Corridor Ordinance. What kind of message does nose-thumbing at local statutes send to our young people? Perhaps the city and the district should be more concerned with the concerns of the community than the bureaucratic posturing which has so far characterized these events.

TOBY KEELER

Old Topanga