Development committee nears release of reform plan.

Some neighborhood leaders decry lack of local input

L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan's Development Reform Committee, which is searching for ways to make the city more development-friendly, will soon release a plan to make the development process more "certain" for homeowners and developers alike, said Paul Curcio, president of Urban Innovations Group.

Curcio said the committee of 20 business and community leaders wants to make the development process more "predictable," so that developers can get permits more simply and residents don't have to worry about community development plans being radically changed on a project-by-project basis.

The committee spent the past two weeks meeting with homeowner association leaders to get their input for a report that is already two months overdue. But instead of relishing the opportunity, some homeowner leaders came away from the meetings with the impression that the committee is being overly secretive about the nature of its upcoming recommendations.

Some are suspicious that the final recommendations will deal largely with gutting the laws that protect their interests -- laws on the need for public hearings and environmental review.

Barbara Fine, vice president of the Federation of Hillside & Canyon Associations, said the committee seems to be leaning toward allowing community input on development only at the community plan stage.

"There's no question the development process needs to be streamlined, but we don't want to be cut out of it," said Fine.

She was a member of Councilman Hal Bernson's Development Process Task Force, a predecessor committee that included developers, business people and homeowner leaders. Fine said Riordan promised to include homeowner advocates on the new committee but didn't.

"We feel we have been betrayed. We feel we served in vain, that our group will be swallowed up by this task force," said Fine. "It's a developer-oriented committee. If they really wanted public comment, they would have done it at the beginning."

Members of the committee include: Chairman Dan Garcia, senior vice president of real estate planning and public affairs at Warner Bros.; Ted Stein, attorney, senior policy adviser to Riordan and president of the L.A. Board of Airport Commissioners; Ben Reznick, attorney with Reznick & Reznick, specializing in real estate and land use matters; Nelson Rising, senior partner at Maguire Thomas Partners commercial real estate developers; and Carlton Jenkins, president of Founders National Bank of Los Angeles.

Two homeowner leaders said committee members talked at recent meetings about working to make the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act less onerous. This act, which requires environmental reviews of development proposals, has been the subject of several legislative attempts at amendment.

As further evidence of the secretive nature of the committee, even the public relations firm that is handling publicity for the committee on a pro bono basis didn't want to release any information, eventually coming up with only a five-month-old news release and a list of committee members.

"There was a document that was finished, and they wouldn't let us see it," complained Sandy Brown, president of the Westside Civic Federation. "We still got the feeling it was them against us. ... When they asked for objections from our neighborhood, they said it was all in (their) document."

Anne McNeill, coordinator of special projects in the mayor's office, admitted that "at one or two of the meetings, that impression was given, and it's unfortunate because that's not true."

Curcio said the only document he referred to was his draft of the "emerging" recommendations of the committee, not a draft report.

"I meant to reassure them that some of their concerns are the same as the committee's," said Curcio. For example, he said, the committee's "emerging" recommendations include regularly updating community development plans and making development more "predictable."

McNeil said the draft report will be released in six to eight weeks. But Curcio said it may take up to six years to implement some of the recommendations, while others may take only six months.

Despite the lack of a report and official information, through interviews and the obtaining of documents shared with committee members, the Business Journal was able to piece together some of the committee's agenda.

The committee will make recommendations on how to lessen perceived problems of discretionary permitting, onerous fees, conflicting information from city staff, multiple "points of contact," poor customer service, lack of infrastructure support and general disorganization at city hall.

McNeil and Curcio both said the main reason the committee, which was originally scheduled to finish its business in late March, is running behind schedule is delays caused by the Northridge earthquake.

McNeil and Curcio said the comments made by the homeowner leaders will be added to the report. Plus, said Curcio, each of the homeowner representatives who attended a meeting will receive a packet including a summary of Curcio's presentation, their comments and a schedule for future committee action.

J. Sylvia Gross, chairman of the board and land-use chairman of the Sunland Tujunga Association of Residents, said she found it odd that each homeowner group contacted was given a different maximum number of officers who could attend and some prominent groups apparently weren't invited.

Gross confirmed that at the San Fernando Valley meeting last week, homeowner leaders were told the report was not finished and would include their comments. Still, she was suspicious of the committee.

"We all had that feeling that they have a draft report, and we felt they should give us something to read first," said Gross.

Gordon Murley, president of the San Fernando Valley Federation of homeowner groups, described the meeting he attended as "a dog and pony show."

Murley said committee members seemed chiefly concerned with the inefficiency of city staff, burdensome laws and regulations, and the lack of supporting tax money.

"They're trying to blame the process. These are the same developers who have crammed things down our throats and screwed up projects," said Murley. "They talked about making the process ministerial. They want less public input. It's a very scary thing."