WESTLAKE VILLAGE : Water District Buys Land Near Reservoir

The Las Virgenes Municipal Water District has purchased a controversial, 491-acre parcel of land near the Westlake Village Reservoir to protect its water supply.

The district paid the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. $6.3 million for the site where 300 luxury homes on Westlake Vista had been planned. Development of the area could have resulted in the contamination of the 9,800 acre-foot reservoir, which provides tap water for homes in the Calabasas, Agoura Hills and Westlake Village areas, district spokeswoman Bobbe Wymer said.

“This is the only source of water for those areas,” Wymer said. “We would have ended up having to expand our filtration plant, which would have made water much more costly for our customers.”

Escrow on the sale closed Wednesday.

The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy has agreed to pay half of the $6.3 million early next year, in exchange for 235 acres of the property purchased this week and 237 additional acres owned by the water district.

The conservancy considers acquiring the land crucial to protecting the Lyon’s pentachaeta, an aster with yellow flowers, and the Santa Monica Mountains Dudleya, a rare succulent under consideration for threatened status by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

A lawsuit by the Baldwin Co., which planned to develop the site, is pending against the sale of the property.

Baldwin contends that the FDIC broke a contract to allow the company to purchase the land before other bids were accepted.

The FDIC took over the property in 1989 from Vernon Savings & Loan, a failed Dallas thrift.

Robert Burns, president of Baldwin’s Los Angeles/Ventura division, said the company plans to reverse the sale, if possible.

“We are planning to pursue the lawsuit,” Burns said.