VAN NUYS >> They saw their Granada Hills neighborhood destroyed by a behemoth apartment complex that would soar over their low-slung homes and displace family friendly businesses such as a Chuck E. Cheese.
Not even an 11th-hour compromise reached with a Los Angeles developer this week to pair down the height, cut the number units and convert them into condominiums could quell the fear of being steamrolled by development.
“My real concern is added density,” said Michael Spooner, among the residents to fill a Los Angeles planning meeting Tuesday in Van Nuys. “It will change the character and the face of the community.
“This city keeps building into communities, not out. We don’t want that. This new development will only encourage developers to follow suit – and change the community we love.”
He was among the roughly 150 residents to pack a Los Angeles Joint Advisory Agency Hearing at the Van Nuys Civic Center to discuss what had been initially planned as a 440-unit apartment complex with commercial space. The project is expected to be signed off on by Planning Director Vince Bertone within weeks.
The mixed-use project originally proposed by Harridge Development Group of Los Angeles would replace an L-shaped shopping center at 11147 Woodley Ave. with a four-story, 54-foot-tall building.
Current businesses and agencies from the Chuck E. Cheese to a state Department of Motor Vehicles would be forced to move.
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A Taco Bell on the corner of Woodley Avenue and San Fernando Mission Boulevard would be allowed to stand.
“We need the project because Los Angeles is currently 60,000 housing units short,” said William Kuzman, a real estate broker who lives in Granada Hills who was the only one to raise his hand in support. “Until we start making dents in the supply of housing, the rents will go sky high for our kids.”
Residents who have campaigned for weeks to stop it, however, say it would be out of character for their closely knit neighborhood – not long ago known for oranges, rabbit raising and modern poolside living. Many wore crimson Ts emblazoned with “Stop 440 Granada Hills.”
They also said it would spill hundreds of tenants from a driveway next to John F. Kennedy High School, endangering students. Two years ago, 17-year-old senior Philo Ragni was killed in the intersection when his bike was struck by an LADWP truck.
But because the development project conformed to a newly revised community plan that involved 50 public hearings, it was entitled to be built along with extra units in exchange for affordable housing, Councilman Mitch Englander said.
But over the weekend, he and Granada Hills leaders were able to forge a compromise with a developer who legally could have built nearly 600 units.
Harridge Development agreed to limit its building height to 45 feet, downsize it to 330 units and sell them as condos, with an affordable component aimed to residents of moderate, versus very low income.
It also agreed to build a Granada Hills community room and create a safer, set-back entrance next to Kennedy High school and other traffic safety measures.
“They won’t be happy. We won’t be happy. But it’s something we could live with,” said Englander, who lives in Granada Hills, told the crowd.
“We put pen to paper, and we believe the 330-condominium option can work on this property, and we would like to pursue that in cooperation with the council office and the community,” said Brad Rosenheim, a land-use consultant for Harridge Development.
“We want to get out of here alive,” he joked. “And it does accommodate a lot of concerns.”
Neighborhood council members voiced support for the compromise. But residents who have lived in Granada Hills for decades were nonplussed.
They pointed to the collapse of the nearby 118 Freeway during the 1994 Northridge earthquake and called for a seismic study. They pointed to flawed traffic estimates and called for a traffic study.
They pointed to nearby overcrowded schools they said would need bungalows to accommodate condo kids, robbing students of playgrounds.
Many called for a formal environmental impact report.
“Granada Hills started as a small farming village and has evolved into a beautiful sprawling community,” Julie Trent, whose family has lived in Granada Hills for 55 years, told the developers. “We live here for a reason.
“Don’t put in people looking into our windows. Respect our right to live.”
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