PANEL OKS CANYON HILLS PROJECT DEVELOPER AGREES TO CUT NUMBER OF HOMES, PROMISES MORE OPEN SPACE.Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer A Los Angeles City Council  The Los Angeles City Council is the governing body of the City of Los Angeles, California, United States. panel on Monday OK'd a housing
project in the Verdugo Hills after the developer agreed to trim the
project to 221 homes and dedicate 89 additional acres to public open
space.
The proposed Canyon Hills development still needs full City Council approval in the coming weeks, but the Planning and Land Use Committee's decision marked a key victory for developer Rick Percell, who wants to build on one of largest swaths of private open space remaining in the northeast San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. . The project encompasses 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 210 Freeway in Sunland - larger than New York's Central Park. The proposal would cluster homes on the eastern edge of the property near an existing neighborhood, with the rest of the land untouched. 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. , who opposed earlier versions of the development, said Monday she could finally support the project after Percell agreed to dedicate 89 acres of environmentally sensitive habitat as protected open space. That's in addition to 518 acres that have already been slated for public open space. Percell had been denied permission to build on the 89 acres, south of the 210 Freeway, but he'd pushed for the public to buy the land, rather than having to donate it. ``They're giving us this land for free,'' Greuel said after meeting. ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. of another project that has donated 85 percent of the property as open space.'' In addition, Percell agreed to Greuel's request to remove nine houses that were particularly visible from the freeway. However, opponents said Percell was still getting more homes than he should. With giant maps and signs illustrating the formulas used to calculate housing density on hillsides, opponents argued Percell should only be allowed to build 45 homes on his 887 acres. Even though Canyon Hills was trimmed from 280 to 230 and now 221 houses since the beginning of the year, that's still far too many houses for area, said Dean Wallraff, conservation chairman for the Verdugo Hills Group of the Sierra Club Sierra Club, national organization in the United States dedicated to the preservation and expansion of the world's parks, wildlife, and wilderness areas. Founded (1892) in California by a group led by the Scottish-American conservationist John Muir, the Sierra Club . ``This is mansionization. These are 4,000-square-foot, expensive houses in a 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. . It's not like anything in the area, which is rural.'' Supporters of the project said Canyon Hills offers a rare compromise that would secure acres of open space and provide a new equestrian equestrian a rider of horses. center for free, in exchange for a moderate number of homes. Kerry Cavanaugh, (818) 713-3746 kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com |
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