Neighborhood’s Gate Angers Some Parents

Calabasas Hills has joined the ranks of gated communities.

The neighborhood had fought for years to enclose its streets to outsiders, and that effort finally became a reality last week when the streets were enclosed behind secured gates.

But the move has not been greeted with universal approval, especially among parents at Bay Laurel Elementary School, which is directly outside the gates on Paseo Primario.

As a result of a condemnation lawsuit settled in 1995 between Las Virgenes Unified School District and the homeowners group, the gates were allowed to remain closed for a month to see whether the move hinders circulation for parents, district officials said.

School officials said they retained the option to require that the gates be opened during peak traffic hours to provide recourse in case of adverse effects.

Some parents were surprised and angered last week when they arrived at school to find that the gate prohibited them from parking on the hill above campus and walking their children to class.

But Principal Martha Mutz said the school sufficiently notified parents of the changes, especially kindergarten parents who faced a change in class hours as part of the school’s new traffic circulation plan.

Shirley Greenberg, president of the Calabasas Hills Community Assn., said Monday night that she didn’t believe “community business should be publicized,” but felt the school supported the community’s efforts to keep their homes safe.

Ultimately, it will be the principal’s observation of the traffic effects that determines whether the gates will remain closed or be opened during peak drop-off and pick-up hours.

Mutz said the school is doing all it can to “make it work for everybody.”

“Our goal is to create a situation where people can keep their gates closed because the others [parents] coming in, they’re coming from their own gated communities,” she said.