Calabasas : City May Postpone Vote on Referendum

City Atty. Casey Vose is recommending that the City Council hold off on setting a date for a referendum on the Calabasas Park Centre until a key legal question has been resolved.

The council is scheduled to vote on the matter at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall, 26135 Mureau Road. To incorporate the referendum in the county’s March primary ballot, city officials said, the council would have to approve a motion to that effect by Wednesday.

The developer in 1989 received entitlements from the county to construct a 1.5-million-square-foot office and retail center at Parkway Calabasas and Calabasas Road. In December 1994, the council approved developer John Kilroy’s application to increase the project’s retail component from 50,000 square feet to 200,000 square feet.

The council’s vote followed months of debate between project supporters, who say it would be good for the city’s economy, and opponents, who say it would bring too much noise and traffic. Then in July, opponents turned in the 1,152 signatures required to force a referendum.

The unresolved legal question, Vose said, is whether the referendum would apply to the developer’s conditional-use permits for the 200,000-square-foot retail portion. Kilroy argues that even if the referendum were successful, he would still legally be able to build the retail component.

City Councilwoman Karyn Foley said Monday that she would follow Vose’s recommendation.

“We can’t take a vote until we know all the facts,” she said. “The [voters] I’ve talked to would like to know what their vote will mean.”

She said the city can always set a special election after it has resolved the legal question.