West End Mega Mansion under Close Scrutiny by Park Officials

• Compound Would Consist of Over 33,000 Square Feet of Structures on 10 Acres

BY BILL KOENEKER

A 21,199-square-foot mega-mansion planned for a 10-acre property on Cotharin Road near Boney Mountain, high in the hills of the section of the Malibu 90265 zip code in Ventura County, is causing some concern for park officials.
The property is located on a ridgeline and is in the vicinity of several public parks.
In addition to the 35-foot high residence, plans call for an extensive residential complex. The development consists of a second dwelling unit, four accessory buildings, including a 2259-square-foot art studio, a 2288-square-foot storage building, also an art storage building, pool house, tennis court and pool totaling over 33,000 square feet of development.
Both Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy officials and National Park Service officials have told Ventura County planners that given the large-scale development proposed in an aesthetically and biology sensitive area, they require an Environmental Impact Report for the proposed compound.
A SMMC official noted there was a recent court case in the City of Los Angeles in which the judge found that there was substantial evidence that construction of a single-family residence may have significant impacts on habitat and aesthetics and could have significant geotechnical impacts and therefore an EIR would be required.
“We strongly recommend that the County of Ventura thoroughly analyze potentially significant environmental impacts, even if this is just a single-family home. The California Environmental Quality Act document should include the results of a visual impact analysis showing before and after views from public roads, existing trails, and the proposed Coastal Slope Tail,” wrote an SMMC planner.
The National Park Service agreed, “We are concerned the size of the proposed residence and structures, totaling 33,065 square feet, may potentially silhouette ridgelines and ocean views and may be out of scale with the surrounding community situated within the national recreation area,” wrote SMMNRA superintendent Woody Smeck.
Both agencies contend there will be impacts to aesthetic resources, biological resource impacts and cumulative impacts, with a need to address project modifications such as reducing the footprint of the complex by clustering the proposed buildings and reducing the size of the main residence, art studio and garage.
Park officials also suggest a need for permanent deed restrictions or conservation easements so that no other development can take place on the property in a piecemeal fashion
“Permanent deed restrictions or conservation easements are the only way to guarantee that there will be no more additional environmental impacts on the subject property and piece-mealing of the environmental analysis under CEQA,” a conservancy planner stated.
An NPS official talked about how in the general vicinity of Deer Creek Road, Cotharin Road and Yerba Buena Road increasing single-family residential development has caused increasing habitat fragmentation, with fuel modification in excess of the required 100-foot buffer. “We request the project be designed to reduce the need for fuel modification by clustering the proposed structures and minimizing the development footprint,” added Smeck.