hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (Jerry Hollombe) (02/04/85)
The following article (reproduced without permission) appeared in the
January 30, 1985 issue of the Los Angeles Times:
COUNTY WON'T EXTEND PERMIT OF NUDIST CAMP
By Jill Stewart and James Quinn
Times Staff Writers
The Elysium Institute nudist camp, a hub for Southern California's freedom
of expression movement in the early 1970's, was dealt a major setback
Tuesday in its 16-year battle for survival when the Los Angeles County
Board of Supervisors refused to extend its operating permit.
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 operation permit.
According to county officials, the board now can take legal action to shut
down 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, 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.
--
==============================================================================
The Polymath (Jerry Hollombe)
Citicorp TTI If thy CRT offend thee, pluck
3100 Ocean Park Blvd. it out and cast it from thee.
Santa Monica, California 90405
(213) 450-9111, ext. 2483
{vortex,philabs}!ttidca!ttidcc!hollombe