US planners reject guitarist's mansion development plans

THE Edge, the guitarist with U2 (below), has failed to win approval to build a cluster of mansions on land overlooking Malibu in California.

The California Coastal Commission, which oversees coastal development, yesterday recommended that the application, led by the musician and his business partners, be rejected. The proposal includes five multi-level homes of up to 12,785 square feet to be built on 156 acres in the Santa Monica mountains.

Project designers have said the homes will be Gold LEED Certified and the guitarist, whose real name is David Evans, has said the mansions will be some of the most environmentally sensitive in the world.

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But opponents of the project, including the US National Park Service, have argued that it will have considerable biological and visual impacts in such a sensitive habitat.

The musician and his partners recently appeased the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, which had opposed the project on these grounds, after agreeing to give the agency more than $1 million, dedicate nearly 100 acres to open space and provide public access to hiking trails.

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