Nudist Camp Denied Permit It Needs to Stay Open

The county Board of Supervisors refused Tuesday to extend the operating permit of the Elysium Institute nudist camp.

The board’s vote, effective immediately, is a direct turnaround from a decision last May by the county Regional Planning Commission to grant the camp a five-year extension on its permit.

County officials say the board now can take legal action to close the secluded camp in the unincorporated community of Topanga if the private owners do not do so voluntarily.

Ed Lange, founder and executive director of Elysium Institute, which has been battling to survive for 16 years, vowed to contest the board’s action in court.

“I’m shocked. In fact, I’m angry,” Lange said. “I certainly intend to contest the constitutionality of this move. We believe the Constitution protects an already established institute such as ours.”

The camp gained almost instant notoriety in 1968 when it was raided by a county vice squad soon after it opened. Twenty-three nudists were arrested. As controversy over the camp increased, critics complained to police and county agencies of peeping toms, hippies, nude hikers and lost nudists ringing nearby doorbells.

Although the camp’s permit was extended last year by the Regional Planning Commission, Lange appealed that decision to the Board of Supervisors, arguing that some of the 27 conditions that the commission put on the permit were “odious.”

The commission’s approval carried with it a ban on parking along nearby Topanga Canyon Boulevard and required the institute to reduce its membership of 1,400 by about half until a small road leading to the camp was widened, county officials said.

Lange said that after a hearing before the board on Dec. 20, he had expected a favorable vote.

But Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who called for denial of the permit, said he pushed for closure of the camp because “it simply does not fit in with the community.

“People live around there and they have a right to have the land used in the way that is compatible with their neighborhood,” he said.

In his motion, Antonovich cited a geological report released by the county several weeks ago that determined land in the area might be subject to slippage.

Antonovich said widening of Robinson Road, required by the county to accommodate the camp’s traffic, might cause slippage and damage to nearby property.

‘Very Important Factor’

“That wasn’t the final straw exactly,” Antonovich said, “but when you consider the geological problems with all the other problems, it’s a very important factor in our argument against them.”

The county has tried to close the camp several times since 1971, when the board voted to restrict nudist camps to areas zoned for heavy agricultural use only. The 7.2-acre parcel of land is zoned for light agricultural use.