Officials Reject Couple’s Plan for Large Barn

Mark and Kathleen Paskey wanted to assemble a prefabricated barn, big enough for three horses, behind a house they own on Waverly Heights Drive.

But city planners objected, saying the barn is bigger than city standards will allow. And although several Thousand Oaks planning commissioners expressed sympathy for the Paskeys’ plight, the commission this week denied the couple’s request to build the barn.

The Paskeys found the wood-paneled barn in Malibu in 1993 and bought it for $5,000. The barn has remained unassembled behind the Waverly Heights house, which the Paskeys rent out and are currently trying to sell.

The barn’s 1,269-square-foot size when fully assembled exceeds Thousand Oaks’ 900-square-foot limit for such structures.

Although city planners acknowledged that several Waverly Heights residents already have oversized barns, those structures were probably built before the city adopted its size restrictions, said Edwin Rinke, the assistant planner .

Several commissioners said Monday that because the house is for sale, the size restrictions were not placing an undue burden on the Paskeys.

“Where I have my problem is, if the house is for sale, it’s no longer a hardship,” said Commissioner John Powers.

Only Commissioner Linda Parks voted to grant the Paskeys’ request. She said the city should consider changing its restrictions to take into account similar cases.

Although he did not know what steps he would take next, Mark Paskey said he still wanted to build his barn at its full size.

“I’m going to continue to fight to get the barn built,” he said. “This is going to be the best-looking barn in the neighborhood.”