THOUSAND OAKS : Probst Given More Time to Remove Fence

The Thousand Oaks city attorney has given North Ranch millionaire Charles E. Probst until mid-January to take down a temporary wrought-iron fence that neighbors complain gives his estate the appearance of a compound.

City Atty. Mark Sellers said Tuesday that he gave Probst, who originally agreed to remove the fence by July, a six-month extension because of problems with his landscape contractor.

The ornamental fence is just 10 feet from busy Westlake Boulevard instead of 35 feet as Probst stipulated it would be last fall.

“He’s hired a substitute contractor,” Sellers said, “and we’re giving him until early next year to take care of it.”

The extension, granted in mid-October, expires Jan. 15. Such extensions are routine, Sellers said. Probst’s attorney said the project can be completed by the new deadline, Sellers said.

But some of Probst’s neighbors, who favored natural vegetation on the 15-acre parcel instead of elaborate landscaping, said the city extension is perplexing.

“The frustration continues,” said Cathy Shutz, who owns a nearby home on Westlake Boulevard. “The city gives him permission to do his landscaping plan as he wants, but he doesn’t follow the guidelines. And now he doesn’t follow through with the fence [relocation].”

The fence’s location was part of an agreement under which the City Council gave Probst permission to build a bunker and to landscape his 15-acre estate with more than 900 trees.

The council’s 3-2 vote sparked controversy not only because the project was opposed by the Planning Commission but also because it followed soon after the announcement that Probst had pledged a $2-million donation to the new Civic Arts Plaza.

Within days of the vote, Probst installed his fence too close to the street. He then negotiated a deal that gave him until July to remove the fence.

In a recent development, City Councilwoman Elois Zeanah said she had been told that Probst has failed to make promised payments to the fund-raising arm of the arts plaza. Officials at the Alliance for the Arts have declined to comment.