Planners Object to Design of Apartments

The Calabasas planning department is less than enthusiastic about a developer’s proposal to build an 82-unit luxury apartment complex in the city’s west end.

The project would be located on a 6-acre site between Malibu Hills, Shadow Hills and Calabasas Hills roads. It would consist of 14 earth-tone stucco buildings with a view of nearby foothills.

Rob Searcy, an associate planner for the city, said his department is opposed to the project’s “urban village” design because it goes against the city’s General Plan, which stipulates that the area’s “rural / urban” character be preserved.

The Planning Commission will hold a hearing on the matter at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at City Hall. In a report, the planning department has recommended that the Planning Commission table the item.

The applicant, Calabasas-based RCS Development Co., has also proposed building a storage facility on four acres adjoining the site of the apartment complex. Its parent company, the Currey Riach Co., has applied for permits to build a 52-unit detached housing project at Las Virgenes and Lost Hills roads.

These applications come as the city works to comply with a state mandate to provide affordable housing. The city is considering a plan that would require residential developers to set aside affordable housing or pay into a fund set aside for that purpose by the city. A complex formula would be used to determine how much affordable housing each developer would have to provide.

Under that formula, RCS engineer Hans Giraud figures that Currey Riach would be obligated to build 34 units of affordable housing in Calabasas. The apartment complex is not designated as affordable housing, Giraud said, but the developer is considering a plan to build a 32- to 40-unit affordable housing complex for seniors in the city.