Council Rejects Extension for Builder

The City Council has refused to extend an application deadline for a developer who wants to build 28 apartments next to an approved 120-unit complex.

The council voted 3 to 2 Tuesday night, with Councilmen Andy Fox and Dennis Gillette dissenting--the first time since the November election that the two were in the minority on a development-related issue.

Los Angeles-based PCS Calmor now will have to wait until October before it can move forward on the project addition. Tom Cohen, an attorney for the developer, said the builder is undecided on whether to pursue the 28 extra units.

Cohen said construction on the 120 units could start within two months. The idea, the attorney said, was to coordinate the grading work for the two projects to minimize noise and dust in the surrounding neighborhood.

Councilman Ed Masry said that made him believe the 28-unit project would be rushed through the approval process ahead of other pending proposals.

Councilwoman Linda Parks was elated at the decision. “It generally hasn’t happened in the city before that the developer hasn’t been given a special favor to speed up the timeline,” she said.

Parks opposes the 120-unit apartment complex, which will be built across from Conejo Elementary School on Conejo School Road.

Tuesday’s decision was the first time that Mayor Dan Del Campo had shifted the majority in favor of Parks and Masry--who ran together last month on an aggressive slow-growth platform.

Del Campo said he simply didn’t feel comfortable adjusting the deadline more than two months after it passed. And he admitted that he is becoming the swing vote on the council, despite hopes that divisiveness on the panel would end.

“I fully recognize that when there’s a 2-2 split, I’m going to end up deciding which way it goes,” Del Campo said.