Rival Lawsuits Over Hospice Dropped

Neighbors embroiled in a months-long dispute over the opening of a hospice on the shores of Westlake Lake have called a truce, dropping their lawsuits against each other.

Members of the Windward Shores Homeowners Assn. voted Tuesday against continuing their lawsuit against hospice operator Isobel Oxx, according to their attorney, Robert Saperstein. The homeowners balked at the cost of pursuing the legal action against Oxx, who last September converted her home to a care facility for the terminally ill, Saperstein said.

Oxx, who had promised to drop her lawsuit if they dropped theirs, said she was happy to oblige.

“I think you have to live and let live,” she said. “I think there was a lot of fright on the part of the neighbors.”

Under a settlement hammered out between Oxx and the homeowners, Oxx must draw her shades at night and have the nurses she employs park on Triunfo Canyon Road, rather than on Leeward Circle, the cul-de-sac where her home is located.

Ever since Oxx won state approval in August to care for up to four terminally ill patients in her two-story home, residents have fought the conversion. They said it would impose traffic, ambulances, hearses and the sight of the sick in their peaceful neighborhood. Others feared that curious children and pets might find medical refuse--such as needles--in trash cans.

Although 45 homeowners voted against assessing themselves $500 each to continue their lawsuit, Saperstein said many are still vehemently opposed to allowing Oxx’s home-care facility to remain. Thirty-four homeowners voted to continue with the lawsuit.

“I am disappointed personally,” said Richard Johncola, vice president of the homeowners association. “The case has never been challenged at the appellate level, and I thought we had a good chance to win it.”