Adobe Jack

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Germaine Greenweig

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Aug 3, 2024, 4:10:15 PM8/3/24

to rophagemus

Three San Fernando Valley homeowner groups have joined a cultural preservation association in filing a lawsuit against Caltrans, saying the agency has failed to prepare legally required environmental impact reports for a planned Ventura Freeway interchange that could affect the historic Leonis Adobe in Calabasas.

Leaders of the Las Virgenes Homeowners Federation, the Calabasas Park Homeowners Assn. and the Woodland Hills Homeowners Organization on Tuesday announced their alliance with the nonprofit Leonis Adobe Assn. at the 144-year-old structure. The Adobe is located in the Old Town Calabasas section, a two-block collection of clapboard storefronts that sprang up around the adobe about 75 years ago.

Caltrans officials have maintained that the project would not threaten the Leonis Adobe. Jack Hallin, chief of project development for the agency, said an alternative project suggested by the homeowners would also bring increased traffic into Old Town Calabasas.

Attorneys for the four organizations filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court earlier this month, saying that Caltrans violated federal and state environmental quality requirements when it approved the project without preparing a report or even an environmental impact statement, which is typically less detailed than a complete impact report.

The Leonis Adobe Assn. filed a similar suit in U.S. District Court last December against the California Department of Transportation, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration, all of which are involved with the project.