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Development plans for Verdugo Hills Golf Course remain controversial among residents

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Residents have until Wednesday to submit comments about the latest environmental impact report for a controversial proposed residential development that would be built on the current Verdugo Hills Golf Course, a project that nearby residents have been fighting for years.

The new impact report, released last month, follows an initial report in 2009 and asks residents to weigh in on several issues surrounding the proposed development, including traffic, greenhouse-gas emissions and the historic and cultural significance of the former Tuna Canyon Detention Station, which was a Japanese internment camp that operated on the site during World War II.

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The main plan for the Verdugo Hills Golf Course, submitted by Snowball West Investments, L.P., seeks to develop a gated residential community with 229 two-story, single-family homes, each with a two-car garage.

The homes would vary from 1,800 to 2,700 square feet in size, according to the impact report, which introduces two new alternative plans, which are open to public comment.

One alternative plan proposes developing a residential equestrian community on the site, where 86 single-family homes would be constructed with attached equestrian units that could stable up to five horses.

The second plan, noted as “the preferred plan,” includes a slightly less dense development, reducing the number of single-family homes to 221.

Local resident Karen Keehne Zimmerman, who opposes any development on the golf course, said that locals who are against the development are most concerned about the potential for traffic increases, particularly residents she’s spoken with who live along Tujunga Canyon Boulevard near the golf course.

They often find exiting their driveways a challenge with existing traffic, she added.

The report estimates that the 229-unit development would result in an increase of 1,155 daily vehicle trips during a “typical” weekday, but the report ultimately concludes that the “potential cumulative traffic impacts are expected to be less than significant.”

Zimmerman said she disagrees with the findings.

“[Throughout] a lot of the document, they present the facts, but they don’t give the back story. The people who live here experience that back story,” Zimmerman said.

Snowball West investor and spokesman Michael Hoberman did not respond to a request for comment.

The feedback gathered from residents will be considered as city officials plan to create a final draft of the environmental impact report, which will be given to the Los Angeles City Planning Commission and City Council for consideration.

Comments should be made to Erin Strelich, city planning associate with the Los Angeles Department of City Planning, at erin.strelich@lacity.org. The department of planning is located at 200 N. Spring St., Los Angeles.

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Kelly Corrigan, kelly.corrigan@latimes.com

Twitter: @kellymcorrigan

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