PANEL ENDORSES CURBS ON STUDIO.

Byline: David Bloom Daily News Staff Writer

Universal Studios' neighbors had a small victory in their fight against a massive studio expansion Wednesday when county regional planning commissioners tentatively backed limits on noise, construction, building heights and more.

But the commission, which initially hoped to order staff to start writing a final draft specific plan for the project, bogged down in detailed questions. Faced with loss of a quorum after four hours, it continued the discussion to a March 23 special meeting.

Most of the questioning came from Commissioner Don Toy, who expressed frustration in trying to clarify the impact of language changes and modifications. Recently named Commissioner Renee Campbell also struggled to grasp all the detail. The commission slogged through several substantial areas of question, giving staff direction on how it wants the final draft to look.

Universal Vice President Helen McCann said the company was ``glad the commission got so much done today.''

Project opponent Paul Haje, who owns two Hollywood Knolls homes bordering Universal's property, said the delay was good news.

``The longer they are delayed, the more diluted their plan becomes,'' Haje said. ``Each time they come back with more concessions to the public. It's making the plan better for all of us.''

The plan, a final environmental impact report and other permits, will govern how Universal can expand its headquarters over 15 years.

During that period, Universal wants to add 3.2 million square feet of studio, hotel, office, commercial and other space to the 5.4 million square feet on its 415-acre site. The county commission and a Los Angeles city hearing officer have jointly held 10 hearings over the past year on the project.

On Wednesday, the commission:

Directed that development of parkland and trails along the Los Angeles River edge of the property be coordinated through the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, which is overseeing riverside improvements in neighboring areas;

Substantially shrunk the ``exception'' areas where buildings could be built as much as 50 feet higher than surrounding facilities on the site, and reduced by 65 feet the height limit on buildings along Barham Boulevard;

Approved further restrictions on signs, even eliminating existing blinking signs that are visible from off the property;

Generally banned construction work within 500 feet of homes between 8 p.m. and 7 a.m. during the week, and 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. on weekends;

Deleted a ``sunset'' clause on noise-level monitoring. The monitoring, by outside experts paid by Universal but chosen by the county, would occur on four randomly chosen days a year throughout the 15-year period.