Agoura Hills Residents Fight Plan to Make Lake Public

In their ongoing effort to defeat a proposal to turn their private lake into a public fishing hole, some residents along Lake Lindero circulated a letter this week urging others to vote against the plan.

The letter was in response to a Lake Lindero Homeowners Assn. survey of the development’s 459 homeowners requesting their opinions about the proposal by Pan Pacific, said lakeside resident William T. Webber.

He said the residents also are collecting signatures on a petition to oppose the plan, which they will take to the city of Agoura Hills if Pan Pacific requests a conditional-use permit for the project.

The residents’ letter states that the homeowners association survey gave residents only two “extremely bad choices”: to approve the contract with Pan Pacific or disapprove it and agree to pursue litigation with government agencies and possibly increase homeowners’ fees.

Association president Terry Miller said the survey was meant as a wake-up call to residents, who might some day have to pay to dredge the lake, estimated at a cost of more than $1 million.

“It was not the intention of the board to mislead or scare [homeowners] into voting one way or the other,” he said. “We wanted to let them know the harsh realities of what will come if we do nothing.”

Webber said the board’s contention that these are the only options is shortsighted.

“There are things that need to be done, but not the things that they are saying,” he said.

He said the board should work to enforce the management agreement with Golf Projects Lindero to clean the lake and enhance the landscaping. Although GPL is not responsible for dredging the lake, it can be taking steps to prevent the need to dredge, he added.

Miller said the board has worked for years to improve the water and landscaping of the lake, and they have taken homeowners’ concerns into account.

“We’re trying to find a long-term solution,” he said. “The easy way would be to raise dues and keep putting it on the 459 homeowners when there’s a problem.”