CALABASAS : Developer Given OK to Remove 16 Trees

A developer has won city approval to remove 16 trees to make way for a housing tract, despite objections from neighbors who say the project will harm the environment.

Calabasas Planning Commissioner Dave Brown, whose board approved the project during a meeting last week, said the city must abide by the developer’s original entitlement from the county.

“We tried, but we didn’t have a whole lot of options,” he said. “We couldn’t deny the whole thing, and we couldn’t make him redesign it drastically.”

Several neighbors spoke against the project.

Toll Brothers Inc., based in Philadelphia, wants to build 34 Mediterranean-style homes on a 219-acre site at the southwest corner of Shadow Hills and Malibu Hills roads. The original entitlement, granted by Los Angeles County in 1987, allows for the removal of three trees. However, the original plans underestimated the number of trees that would have to be removed to protect the proposed hillside community from mudslides.

By law, city officials said, Toll Brothers must do extra grading to reduce the threat of damage from an ancient landslide at the site. The city, which incorporated in 1991, must approve any changes in the original entitlement. The project will go before the City Council on June 7.

Under a compromise with the city, the developer has agreed to plant oak trees elsewhere to replace trees cut down and to limit the number of trees removed. As part of the development agreement, the city would receive 180 acres to preserve as open space.

Jay Deckard, a project manager for Toll Brothers, described the project as “a great deal” for all concerned because of the open space the city will acquire.