Council Backs Sherman Oaks Mall Expansion

A proposed $15-million expansion of the Sherman Oaks Fashion Square that will enclose the 25-year-old, open-air mall has received the backing of the Los Angeles City Council.

Council members voted 11 to 0 on Tuesday in favor of a zone change enabling the remodeling, but also imposed several conditions. They will take a final vote on the zoning next week.

The expansion will increase the mall’s size by about 23%.

Although Sherman Oaks homeowners had opposed the expansion when the plans were unveiled last year, there were no protests Tuesday as council members endorsed recommendations made last month by the council’s Planning and Environment Committee.

That panel approved the addition of 171,846 square feet of leasable floor area on the condition that shopping center operators promise to monitor the 3,600-car parking lot for crowding problems.

The mall’s owner, City Freeholds (USA), will be required to post a $2-million bond with the city that would pay for additional parking spaces if future surveys indicate that the expanded mall has overtaxed existing parking lots.

Other requirements include free parking for customers and employees and the posting of improved directional traffic signs. The center’s owner must also agree to help pay for nearby street improvements sought by the city.

No more than three new “sit-down table service restaurants” will be allowed, no amusement arcades will be permitted, all shops must close by 10 p.m. and lights shining from second-story windows will have to be shielded from the view of nearby homeowners, according to the city’s conditions.

New landscaping also will be required to further buffer the mall from residential areas, and a public community room will have to be built, city officials said.

The conditions “should alleviate many of the concerns expressed by those living near the mall,” Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky said.

Richard Close, president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn., said his group will closely monitor construction to make certain that all of the city’s conditions are met.

Homeowners are still opposed to the expansion, Close said, but abandoned their protest after Yaroslavsky came out in support of the project. “If the local councilman is in favor, there’s not much you can do,” he said.