230-HOME HILLSIDE TRACT APPROVED BY PLANNING PANEL.Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer The city's Planning Commission Noun 1. planning commission - a commission delegated to propose plans for future activities and developments commission, committee - a special group delegated to consider some matter; "a committee is a group that keeps minutes and loses hours" - Milton Berle recommended Thursday that Canyon Hills developer Rick Percell be able to build a 230-home gated community gat·ed community n. A subdivision or neighborhood, often surrounded by a barrier, to which entry is restricted to residents and their guests. in the Verdugo Mountains The Verdugo Mountains are a small mountain range located just south of the western San Gabriel Mountains in Los Angeles County, Southern California, The United States of America (USA). The range is commonly known simply as the Verdugos. . That's 50 homes fewer than Percell sought. The commission also advised that all lots should be clustered north of the Foothill Freeway, instead of building on the more environmentally sensitive south side. The project now goes to the City Council for approval. Both the developer and project opponents expect to continue fighting over the number of hillside homes permitted in the subdivision. ``I am pleased that we have preserved the south side,'' said Councilwoman Wendy Greuel Wendy Greuel is President Pro Tempore of the Los Angeles City Council representing the 2nd District. Greuel was elected in 2002 to fill the remainder of the term of Councilman Joel Wachs. She was elected in her own right in 2003 and reelected in 2007. . ``I'm reserving judgment on the north side proposal to review whether or not that is the lowest number we can legally have.'' But Percell and his associate said they still have the right to build on the south side of the freeway. And the developer is still determined to get his 280 homes. ``We cut it down as much as we could. You would get more open space from this project for free than any other project,'' with the exception of Playa playa or pan or flat or dry lake Flat-bottomed depression that is periodically covered by water. Playas occur in interior desert basins and adjacent to coasts in arid and semiarid regions. Vista, project attorney Jack Rubens told the planning commission. However, project opponents were disturbed that the commission endorsed 230 homes. They believed roughly 70 homes can be built under current zoning, and they argued the commission should not allow a zone change that would permit more than three times as many homes on the steep hillsides. ``The recent rains and the (landslide) events in La Conchita show what happens when you build homes on extremely steep slopes,'' said Mary Benson, a Shadow Hills resident and member of the Tujunga Watershed Stakeholders Stakeholders All parties that have an interest, financial or otherwise, in a firm-stockholders, creditors, bondholders, employees, customers, management, the community, and the government. . Canyon Hills would be one of the largest single-family home developments the city has approved in recent years. The project includes 887 acres straddling strad·dle v. strad·dled, strad·dling, strad·dles v.tr. 1. a. To stand or sit with a leg on each side of; bestride: straddle a horse. b. the Foothill Freeway, of which the developer has proposed keeping 700 acres as open space. Kerry Cavanaugh, (818) 713-3746 kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com |
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