Environmental Report Urges Minor Changes : Warner Ridge Study Ruffles Neighbors

Woodland Hills homeowner activists said they will continue to oppose a $150-million office complex after the developers’ consultant issued a long-awaited environmental impact report this week.

Homeowners expressed disappointment that the report, the second one issued, recommended only minor modifications to the proposed 22-acre Warner Ridge project.

“It’s still showing up as the same dense project they’ve always talked about,” said Robert Gross, vice president of the Woodland Hills Homeowners Organization, which has tried to persuade Los Angeles city officials to reject the project. “We had hoped they would come through with something with considerably less density.”

The development, next to Pierce College on De Soto Avenue, consists of seven office buildings, a restaurant and a 3,000-car garage. The office buildings range from 3 to 7 stories. The area’s zoning restricts buildings to 3 stories.

Residents contend that the development would congest their 1,300-home neighborhood by extending the eastern edge of the Warner Center commercial area.

The developers, Johnson Wax Development Corp. of Racine, Wis., and the Spound Co. of Los Angeles, contend that reducing the height of the buildings would not be economically feasible. The environmental impact report concludes that the project would do little harm to the neighborhood.

The city’s Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the project at 7:30 p.m. July 14 at Parkman Junior High School. Copies of the environmental impact report may be obtained at the district office of City Councilwoman Joy Picus, the public libraries in Woodland Hills, Canoga Park and West Hills, and City Hall in Van Nuys.

In the revised report, the developers have attempted to appease residents by directing traffic off Oxnard Street by providing entrances to the complex on De Soto Avenue. The developer concedes this would cause further congestion at De Soto Avenue and Erwin Street during rush hours.