Agoura Hills Wins 3rd Hearing on Sphere of Influence

Agoura Hills officials seeking a voice in construction projects outside city limits have won a third chance to extend the city’s “sphere of influence” beyond its municipal boundary.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has ordered a county commission that sets municipal boundary lines to schedule a hearing on the city’s 1984 request for a 6,000-acre sphere.

The county’s Local Agency Formation Commission turned down the application in January, 1985, and again this past February. The second vote came after the city won a new hearing by arguing in court that one county commissioner had improperly voted the first time because he had accepted a campaign contribution from a developer who might be affected by the ruling.

Yet another vote was ordered last week by Judge Jack M. Newman, who agreed with allegations in a lawsuit filed by Agoura Hills that the commission failed to substantiate its 1985 decision.

Rochelle Browne, attorney for Agoura Hills, said she had not received a copy of the judge’s ruling Tuesday, but that Agoura Hills is prepared to offer “compelling” new reasons why an extended sphere of influence should be granted.

Jonathan B. Crane, senior deputy county counsel, said county officials felt that the commission’s rejection was “supported by substantial evidence,” although it was not “spelled out in complicated terms.”

He said the new hearing will be scheduled within 75 days under terms of Newman’s ruling.