Along a quiet stretch of Agoura Road, a battle is brewing between neighbors. Calabasas is in the process of annexing about 43 acres of unincorporated Los Angeles near the Liberty Canyon Road exit of the Ventura (101) Freeway. And Agoura Hills isn’t too pleased. The land, mostly open space set up against a hillside, has two tax-producing office buildings, and one is the future location for an office of Spirent Communications Plc, a publicly traded telecommunications firm based in West Sussex, England. Spirent brings in about $500,000 in annual tax revenue to Calabasas from its current 107,000-square-foot offices at 26750 Agoura Road, but it wants to move less than a half mile to a smaller, 83,000-square-foot building in the Liberty Canyon Technology Center. Annexing the area would keep the tax revenue in Calabasas. “That’s a lot of money we would lose,” said Calabasas Mayor David Shapiro. “It is very obvious and clear that this should move forward.” But Agoura Hills isn’t so sure. The quiet Conejo Valley bedroom community doesn’t necessarily want the tax revenue for itself, but about 300 of its nearby homeowners are concerned about future development Calabasas might approve. “Any future development there would affect Agoura Hills more than Calabasas,” said Agoura Hills Mayor William Koehler. “The only residential neighborhood nearby is ours in Liberty Canyon.” Annexation of unincorporated land is usually a simple process. A city sends an application to the Local Agency Formation Commission of Los Angeles County, or LAFCO, which distributes it to local bodies – in this case the county and the two cities that neighbor the land. From there, the county and the city must agree on revenue sharing and property owners are given a chance to protest. A nine-person LAFCO committee then votes on the annexation, which in this case could happen late this year or early next year, assuming Calabasas and the county work out revenue-sharing on the commercial properties. The application for the annexation was received in March. Agoura Hills has sent a letter to LAFCO protesting the annexation. “It’s somewhat unusual to have an application with this level of interest and controversy,” said Paul Novak, executive officer of LAFCO, which is headquartered in Pasadena. “But it’s ultimately a legislative decision. I am certain the commission would consider any and all public comment and give due consideration to anyone representing Agoura Hills.” Different cities Though neighbors, Calabasas and Agoura Hills are quite different. While the two are similar in high home prices and wealthy residents, commercial development is another story. Calabasas is a relative commercial powerhouse, featuring large office buildings and the 215,000-square-foot Commons at Calabasas retail center. Agoura Hills is much more rural in nature, coveting its hiking trails and quiet streets. Some resident groups aren’t happy about the planned annexation. Kim Lamorie is president of the Las Virgenes Homeowners Federation, which represents homeowners in Agoura Hills and Calabasas, as well as Malibu and other nearby communities. She prefers the status quo – that the land on Liberty Canyon remains in county control. “This land provides a great buffer between the cities,” she said. “Calabasas wants to build up commercially, with hotels and homes. Agoura Hills is more quiet and rural.” In fact, Lamorie has concerns with how Calabasas is seeking to develop its west side, about four miles away. Aliso Viejo homebuilder New Home Co. is seeking approval for a development that would include about 150 homes and a four-story hotel on 77 acres near Las Virgenes and Agoura roads. Lamorie said projects like that are what worry her about the Liberty Canyon annexation. “I have some questions as to what is really going on there and what the city wants to do,” she said. “I think it’s more than just chasing a tenant. It’s a wealthy city.” Lamorie said her group may show up to the meeting in which the annexation will be heard by the panel, either later this year or early next year, but that nothing is for sure. Calabasas City Manager Tony Coroalles said the dispute is unnecessary, stating that both cities want to preserve open space. “We did not want to lose that sales tax, so we decided to annex that piece of property. It’s pretty simple,” he said. “We’re disappointed with Agoura. We don’t want to change the zoning on the open space anyway. This whole thing is silly.” Hope for change Another office buildings in the annexation area is occupied by publicly traded Kythera Biopharmaceuticals Inc., which is working on a novel treatment for the elimination of chin fat, among other smaller tenants. Spirent, which will occupy the other building, manufactures testing equipment used by companies across the tech sphere, including broadband and cellular phones. In addition, there are two commercially zoned parcels in the annexation territory, but both are in tax default and Calabasas has said it is willing to buy them and keep them as open space. Cypress Land Co. in L.A., which owns the Spirent building, did not respond to requests for comment. But Mike Tingus, president of the LA North/Ventura office of Lee & Associates, who represented Cypress and Spirent on the 10-year lease, said the building owner is in favor of the annexation. “They prefer Calabasas,” he said, adding that this is not the first time Spirent worked out of the Liberty Canyon Tech Center. The company was the first tenant in the building at 27349 Agoura Road when it was constructed in 2001 before leaving and subletting the space, as it downsized into the former headquarters of Netcom Systems down the street, a company it bought in 1999. Leaving Netcom’s former space to return to the Liberty Canyon building represents an even further downsizing. “This is really like going home for us,” said Ray Lee, director of global properties for Spirent. “We actually built this to our specifications years and years ago. Moving so close by limits the impact on our customers and our employees. We were caught off guard and surprised by all this controversy.” Agoura Hills Assistant City Manager Nathan Hamburger said his city considered filing its own application to annex the land, but that it wouldn’t work out. “Both property owners have been clear about not wanting to be a part of Agoura Hills,” he said. “That’s not a realistic avenue for us.” Ultimately, resolution will lie with the LAFCO annexation committee, which includes two county supervisors, two city representatives – currently from Duarte and La Canada Flintridge – a resident of Los Angeles and a resident of the San Fernando Valley. However, until Calabasas finishes its negotiations with L.A. County, the application is not considered “complete,” said Novak from LAFCO. Once revenue-sharing is figured out, he will prepare a staff report to put before the commission. Calabasas Mayor Shapiro said his city has always had a strong working relationship with Agoura Hills, and he sees the objection as “unfortunate.” “We’ve been very transparent about our intentions. There’s no hiding the ball here,” he said. “This should have been a lot cleaner. It’s a lack of trust for our city and it’s surprising to say the least.” But Mayor Koehler of Agoura Hills said that the real issue is not the intention of the Calabasas Council today, but what may happen in the future if the political makeup of the neighboring city changes. “Five to 10 years down the line there could be a completely different council with completely different intentions,” he said.
