Fox eyes Calabasas for studio/TV facility: it still prefers to merge studio, TV station on Westside.

Fox eyes Calabasas for studio/TV facility

Twentieth Century Fox has identified Calabasas as the most suitable place to relocate its Century City studios and its KTTV-TV (Channel 11) facilities, now situated in Hollywood, if its expansion plans are not approved by the Los Angeles City Council.

However, in a document filed with the city, Fox stressed that it would prefer to remain in Century City and expand its lot there, chiefly because the current site is in the city's "entertainment center" and close to support services.

The document called a "data base" study will be used by city planning department staff to draft an environmental impact report. In it, Fox officials state they examined seven possible alternative sites and selected Calabasas as the closest to meeting their objectives. Only Century City was identified as meeting all the objectives for expansion.

Last year, Fox announced its desire to expand its facilities in Century City, adding studio space and moving KTTV there from Hollywood.

David Handelman, senior vice president at Fox, said last fall that the expansion was an "all or nothing" proposition - that Fox would leave the city unless the City Council approved the required changes to the Century City South Specific Plan and the West Los Angeles Community Plan and granted a "studio uses" zoning for the property. He repeated that position last week.

Handelman said Calabasas was selected as having "the most positive points" of the seven alternative sites after a "very complex" analysis of such factors as price, zone changes required, how much land was available and terrain.

"We obviously have an overwhelming preference to stay here (in Century City)," Handelman said. "The facility here (without expansion) is inadequate for our needs."

The alternative site in Calabasas is 25 miles northwest of the Century City site, southeast of the Calabasas Road ramps to the Ventura Freeway, in Los Angeles County near the Ventura County border. Residents of Calabasas voted last week to incorporate their community into a city.

The site lies on a 67-acre parcel, of which 52 acres have been graded by the developer, described in the report as "scenic and in a desirable area."

The land is available for purchase but current entitlements allow for only 1.5 million square feet of commercial development; the Fox plans would require a change allowing for 1.8 to 2 million square feet for studio uses.

The other six sites studied by Fox were a 75-acre site in Valencia, two sites in Simi Valley, a 100-acre site in Santa Monica, 250 acres near Culver City and a portion of a master-planned site in the Westchester area of Los Angeles.

According to the report, relocation to Calabasas would add 3,820 jobs to the Santa Monica Mountains subregion. Fox reported that about 80 percent of its payroll goes to part-time employees who also work for other studios "within the core" of the entertainment center.

The data base states that moving would not meet Fox's objectives because it would remove the studio "from the highly interactive entertainment community," resulting in losses in "efficiency and competitiveness."

Fox owns 54 acres in Century City at the corner of Pico Boulevard and the Avenue of the Stars. It is now using 1.1 million square feet and wants to expand by another 771,000 square feet. The land in question is now zoned for residential uses and Fox has stated that it would sell the land for condominium development if it moves out.

City staff, after writing the draft EIR, will circulate the report among interested parties. After a 45-day period for public review, the city will add comments, corrections and responses to the final EIR. Fox may then apply to the city to begin the formal approval process.

The expansion is opposed by a coalition of homeowner groups and a Westwood environmental group.

According to the document, the Fox expansion would generate about 8,050 vehicle trips per day, affecting 33 intersections and three freeway ramps. However, the report lists a number of mitigation measures that could be taken to dampen the impact on traffic congestion and air pollution.

All the mitigation measures listed in the report to curtail environmental damage will cost Fox about $5 million, said Helen McCann, development manager with McGregor Co., consultant to Fox on the project.

The traffic study is under review by the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, she added. Fox has stressed since last year that the maximum allowable condominium density would generate more traffic than its expansion plan.

The expansion project also would generate about 243,726 gallons of sewage per day, an increase of 116,250 gallons, according to the data base. Even with mitigation, such as regular inspections and cleaning of sewer lines, "the project will incrementally contribute to cumulation impacts on Hyperion Treatment Plant," the report acknowledges.

"The capacity is available in the system," McCann said.

Most other environmental impacts are projected to be minimal if mitigation measures are taken.