Homeowners Condemn Sabotage Against Builder : Project Foes Join Fight on Simi Vandals

A Simi Valley contractor, whose equipment twice was vandalized at the site of a controversial Calabasas apartment project, said Thursday that he believes the problem has ended after a meeting with area homeowners to ask their help in condemning the acts.

The contractor, Dean Rasmussen, spoke at the Wednesday evening meeting of the Malibu Canyon Homeowners Assn. to complain about damage done to his equipment six weeks ago when his company began grading land at Las Virgenes Road and Thousand Oaks Boulevard for a 698-unit apartment project.

Rassmussen said that, on consecutive weekends, sand was poured over an earth-moving machine’s engine and a tractor’s gauges were broken and some minor parts taken. He said repairs cost him about $1,000.

Rassmussen said he blames the local homeowners association for inciting the vandalism with its continuing campaign to block the apartment development.

3 Youths Arrested

Three area youths, not identified because of their age, were arrested in connection with the second incident, a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department spokesman said. Rassmussen said he spoke with the parents of the youths and was told that “the children felt they were doing something that was condoned by their neighbors.”

No arrests have been made in the first incident.

David Brown, vice president of the Malibu Canyon Homeowners Assn., said his group passed a resolution at the Wednesday meeting condemning the vandalism. He said it was unfair of Rasmussen to accuse the homeowners of inciting the acts.

“In no way, shape or form was the homeowners association involved in the vandalism of his machines, “ Brown said. He said the parents of the arrested children are not members of his group.

‘It’s Behind Us’

Both Rasmussen and Brown predicted that the vandalism will stop. “I think it’s behind us now,” Rasmussen said.

The dispute began last year when developer Jack Bravo asked the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for approval to build an 800-unit apartment project. After neighbors began lobbying against the project, complaining that the apartments would be built in a flood plain and that the development would cause traffic problems, the proposal was scaled down to 698 units. It was approved by the county May 9.

The homeowner group has filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court, challenging the county’s approval of project.

Bravo said Thursday that he sold out his interest in the project four months ago to the Casden Co. of Beverly Hills.