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Developer Fails to Block Ballot Argument

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From Times Staff and Wire Reports

A Calabasas developer has lost his bid to block a ballot argument that criticizes a resort and spa he hopes to build in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Brian Boudreau sued homeowner Mary Hubbard, accusing her of making “false and misleading” statements about his proposed 152-acre project near Malibu Canyon in a ballot argument prepared for a Nov. 8 “advisory” election for Calabasas voters.

But Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dzintra Janavs ordered Hubbard’s statement revised only slightly, adding two words and deleting three others, along with a reference to one civic group that opposes the development.

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“It’s now a court-validated ballot statement,” Hubbard said Friday.

Calabasas attorney Steven Gambardella, who said he was “appalled at the attempt to inhibit her free-speech rights,” represented Hubbard without charge during a two-day court hearing this week.

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