Neighbors Defeat Plans for Mansion Atop Peak

Six months after his death, Herbalife diet magnate Mark Hughes has lost in court to Benedict Canyon homeowners who defeated his controversial plan for a mega-mansion on the area’s highest peak.

The state Court of Appeal this week ruled that the city of Los Angeles “abused its discretion” by relaxing height requirements to allow the 45,000-square-foot Mediterranean-style villa that Hughes hoped to build in the canyon above Beverly Hills.

The 157-acre lot has been for sale since Hughes’ death in May and construction plans have been dropped. Still, opponents of the project, including Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Feuer, say the court’s opinion will discourage others from “mansionizing” fragile hillsides.

“What it says is that it doesn’t matter how big your property is, everyone has to live by the same rules,” said a Benedict Canyon homeowner and land use attorney, David Elson.

Hughes representative Conrad Klein was unavailable for an interview. He said through a spokeswoman that construction plans were halted after Hughes’ death and that “there was no thought of ever pursuing them again.”

Homeowners, however, pursued the case because they feared a new owner could use Hughes’ variance.

The appellate court overturned a Superior Court ruling made in late 1999 that said the variance was justified as long as the property could not be subdivided. It draws to a close a two-year legal battle initiated by the 2,000-member Benedict Canyon Homeowners Assn.

The association argued that the house, at 45 feet high, and its 65-foot-high cupola, would violate the city’s rules, which set a hillside maximum of 36 feet. In addition, they contended that Hughes’ compound would spoil the pristine ridgeline and clog canyon roads for years with construction traffic. Homeowners from neighboring Bel-Air and Beverly Glen helped fund the legal battle.

Hughes, the 44-year-old founder of the weight-loss and nutritional products firm, was found dead in his Malibu home on May 21 from a combination of alcohol and antidepressants. He had been on a four-day drinking binge just before his death, a coroner’s report showed.

Hughes bought the Tower Grove Drive property in 1997 for $8.5 million with plans to create a 25-room home for his family. The home would have been larger than the White House.

Representatives for Hughes argued that landscaping would make the house virtually invisible to neighbors and its presence probably would have increased nearby property values.

Councilman Feuer, whose district includes Benedict Canyon, said the Board of Zoning Appeals established a bad precedent by granting the variance.