Topanga couple sues Coastal Commission

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The couple says the commission used illegal tactics to obtain evidence that resulted in a notice of violation of the Coastal Act.

By Olivia Damavandi / Staff Writer

While the City of Malibu is suing the California Coastal Commission over its recent decision to allow overnight camping in city canyon parks, a Topanga Canyon couple is battling the commission in an ongoing lawsuit of their own.

The suit, filed in 2005 by Peggy Gilder and Dan Norris, claims commission staff members Tom Sinclair and Patrick Veesart removed “No Trespassing” signs from their vacant, 40-acre Topanga property and conducted a site inspection without their knowledge and without a search warrant, after a neighbor reported possible unpermitted development.

They say a second site inspection was then arranged and attended by Veesart, Sinclair and the property owners, who also asked their friend Richard Oshen to attend and film it. However, the commission had drafted a search warrant that prohibited both forced entry and filming.

Timothy Kassouni, attorney for Gilder and Norris, in a telephone interview said that while a dispute ensued over the filming ban, Sinclair departed from the group, and allegedly forcibly entered the property and took photos.

The commission, based on those photos, ruled that unpermitted development had occurred and issued Gilder and Norris a notice of violation. Kassouni, however, said the photos were illegally obtained and therefore should not qualify as evidence. In the notice, the commission states that Gilder and Norris built an illegal road on their property; while the couple protested that the road already existed and they only performed maintenance and cleared brush that was covering it, the court upheld the notice of violation.

Gilder and Norris are seeking financial compensation for the alleged loss of value in their property resulting from the alleged trespassing and illegally obtained photos that the commission used to issue its notice of violation.

The claims will be addressed in a trial scheduled to take place in September in Los Angeles Superior Court.

“Basically, those claims are ludicrous,” Sinclair said in a telephone interview two weeks ago. “We entered the property to take a look to see if there was anyone to contact.

Sinclair also said he did not see any “no trespassing” signs posted on the property. Gilder and Norris stated in a court petition that a sign was found discarded in the bushes.

“We didn’t know who to call, we weren’t sure if we were on the right property,” Sinclair said in response to why calls were not made to the property owners.

The Coastal Commission has stated that Sinclair and Veesart were just doing their jobs and are not liable for any of the charges.

Hope Schmeltzer, the Coastal Commission’s chief counsel, in a telephone interview said, “These are state employees, they have immunity from liability of these things. There’s no damage, there’s no legal liability here.

“You can’t violate the law and say nobody can come see it [the evidence],” Schmeltzer continued. “It just doesn’t make any sense. We have staff people who just did their jobs and are being sued for it.”

Meanwhile, the commission has issued a subpoena to acquire footage of the inspection, which Oshen has included in “Sins of Commission,” his critical documentary of the commission’s practices.

Oshen, who has until July 30 to respond to the subpoena, says the commission is not entitled to the footage until the documentary is released at a West Hollywood film festival in August.

“There’s a constitutional right that says they [the commission] can’t have it,” Oshen said Monday in a telephone interview. “When the film is finished and it’s for sale, they’re welcome to buy a copy of it. Or when it premieres at the West Hollywood International Film Festival. Why not just go see the film?”

Schmeltzer said the footage is necessary evidence in the lawsuit, and would not be used for any other purpose.

“We’re using it as evidence in defending ourselves,” she said. “He can do whatever he wants with it as far as making his movie.”

Oshen, however, says the commission has requested the footage out of concern for its public image.

“They know they’re doing something wrong,” Oshen said. “Otherwise I don’t think they’d have anything to be afraid of.

“The law of the land is the law of the land, not the Coastal Commission’s interpretation of it,” Oshen said. “I think their record supports how they don’t care for individuals who happen to have a home or land in a particular area. And yet, it’s funny that [Commissioner] Sara Wan and [the commission’s Executive Director] Peter Douglas own property.”