Sylmar Struggle : Planners Hear Horses vs. Industry Plea

A three-year campaign by Sylmar equestrian groups to stop construction of an industrial park next to horse stables entered its final stages Thursday when they urged the City Planning Commission to overturn part of the community plan that allows manufacturing in the residential neighborhood.

When it appeared that the four commissioners present were split on the issue, Commission President Daniel P. Garcia put off a vote until the panel’s next meeting, when all five commissioners might be present.

In dispute is the Planning Commission’s approval last year of limited industrial use for about 18 acres. Area residents want the land returned to its original designation of residential-equestrian in the Sylmar Community Plan.

For years, the vacant land has been a buffer between two different areas. One side is across the street from industrial buildings, while the other side abuts a residential-equestrian neighborhood.

Issue Becomes a Crusade

Although the proposed land-use change most immediately affects half a dozen homes that abut the property, the issue has turned into a crusade for Sylmar horse owners and members of several community organizations. They have complained that the rural atmosphere of the area and the “K-district” zoning region in which horse-keeping is allowed are being destroyed in favor of higher-density housing and industry.

“When we moved in here it was peaceful and quiet,” Marguerite Swick, a resident of the area, said at the hearing. “Now there are horrible trucks moving up and down our streets, and there is industry just a block away from a horse-keeping neighborhood. The thought of more industrial when it should be horse-keeping area is absolutely incredible.”

“We don’t see this as a residential-versus-industrial issue,” said Charles Wolfe, a member of one of two equestrian groups opposing the industrial park. “What we want to know is why is the city whittling away K-districts that were promised to us? Those boundaries no longer seemed to be valued.”

Ten people spoke against the proposed development, and three spoke in favor of it.

The property in question is on the southwestern half of a block bounded by Roxford Street, Ralston Avenue, Olden Street and Bradley Avenue.

The Dick Dunn Development Co. of Sherman Oaks has been trying since 1982 to build an industrial building on five acres of the area on Ralston Avenue. But, to do so, it needed changes in zoning and the community plan.

After a series of Planning Department public hearings over two years, both changes were approved by the Los Angeles City Council last October. Since then, the developer has began cleaning and grading the land.

But, in a final effort to stop the construction, homeowners discovered an administrative error in an early public-hearing notice. It had been published in a local newspaper seven days before the hearing instead of the required 10.

Homeowners filed a lawsuit charging that they were denied due process in the proceedings. In June, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Irving A. Shimer ordered the city to show that the notice was valid or rehear the issue. The city then agreed to hold a new hearing.

During Thursday’s hearing, Commissioner Suzette Neiman, who opposed the industrial designation, said: “I think that God is good, and we have been given time to correct our mistake. . . . These people have tried to keep their community .”

Garcia said that the issue was carefully analyzed months ago and that he is still convinced a light industrial park is appropriate for the land.

“It was a difficult decision the first time,” Garcia said. “But the truth is there is already industry on one side of the street. If houses were to be built on the land, they would be facing factories.”