Planners Overrule Objections to Studio

For most people, photography is a quiet and unobtrusive hobby, hardly the sort of thing to spark a neighborhood dispute.

But for Thousand Oaks businessman Larry Janss, a devotion to photography put him at odds with neighbors who objected to his plans to add a 2,218-square-foot photography studio to his house.

Janss received city approval for the project in February, but neighbors Vincent and Dolores Didio appealed to the city’s Planning Commission, asking that the project be rejected. Commissioners this week denied their request, saying the addition meets all the city’s building standards.

The Didios had objected to the project’s size, saying it would block their views. The addition includes a loft level containing a home office, small gymnasium and storage area.

Janss, who trained with master landscape photographer Ansel Adams, said the studio’s large size is necessary for indoor photography. During Monday’s hearing, he showed commissioners the camera he often uses--an old-style, large format camera with accordian-like sides, mounted on a tripod.

“It’s like dancing with a polar bear,” he said. “I need space to move around in.”

The Didios, and several other neighbors who attended Monday’s meeting, also objected to the photo-developing chemicals Janss would use in his studio. But Commission Chairman Forrest Frields, who runs a photography studio, said the chemicals pose no threat to the neighborhood.

“Oven cleaner is far more toxic to everybody than the chemicals used for photography,” he said.

Only Commissioner Linda Parks sided with the neighbors, saying she would have preferred a smaller addition.