Calabasas : Gated Community Plan to Be Discussed

A controversial plan to convert a Calabasas neighborhood into a gated community will be discussed tonight by the City Council.

Opponents say there’s no guarantee that the $500,000 project would enhance property values or make their neighborhood safer. They accuse the Calabasas Hills Homeowners Assn., which is pushing the plan, of ignoring their concerns.

“Their tactics of employing greed and fear to pass a plan is shallow and insulting,” Dominic Bonelli wrote in a letter to the city.

The council, which meets at 7:30 p.m., will set a date for a public hearing. To win city approval, the association must demonstrate that the gates would not impede traffic flow through the city, and that the project is consistent with the city’s proposed General Plan.

Association President Shirley Greenberg said that most residents she’s talked to support the plan. About five, she said, want one of the gates moved, but nobody is opposed outright. According to the city, the association stated that 310 members voted in favor of the plan; 66 were opposed, and 65 did not vote.

Plans call for a guardhouse and gate at Paseo Primario and Calle Largo and at Paseo Primario near Camino Portal. The gate at Paseo Primario and Calle Largo would be kept open during peak school hours to allow motor vehicle access to Bay Laurel Elementary School.

Opponents say keeping the gates open would defeat the purpose.

“There is going to be a guard there,” Greenberg said. “I don’t think a mother dropping off a child at the school is a threat to the community; at night is when we have problems.”

Greenberg said many real estate brokers and agents have assured the association that the gates would enhance property values. Opponents point out that the association would have to pay to maintain community streets, which would be removed from city jurisdiction.