New Hearing on Development Sought Over Flyer Mix-Up

About 20 Tarzana residents protested Friday what they called “notification by bulldozer” of plans to develop an orange grove into single-family homes.

The Bothwell Road residents are demanding a new public hearing on a developer’s plans to build eight luxury homes on four acres between Bothwell and Corbin Avenue, about half a mile south of Ventura Boulevard.

Many residents did not receive the city’s mailed notices of a Jan. 20 hearing and thus missed it, said Steven K. Warshawsky, a spokesman for the group.

City records show that notices of the January hearing were sent out, as required by law, to all residences within 300 feet of the project, said Brad Rosenheim, an aide to Los Angeles City Councilman Marvin Braude.

But the printed notices said the project’s address was 5400 Corbin Ave., although the parcel extends west to Bothwell Road. In addition, the notice said the project was in the Canoga Park-Winnetka-Woodland Hills planning district; it is actually in the Tarzana-Encino district.

‘Good Reason to Toss It’

The notice was misleading, and Bothwell Road residents “would have had every good reason to toss it in the trash can and ignore it,” said Benjamin M. Reznik, an attorney retained by the angry homeowners.

Rob Glushon, an attorney representing developer Talcove & Familian Co. of Sherman Oaks, questioned how the residents could have been misled if they are claiming they didn’t receive the notices.

He added: “I don’t think the city can legally require a new public hearing.”

Braude is asking the city Planning Department and the city attorney’s office to determine whether the notice was adequate and whether another public hearing can or should be held, Rosenheim said.

As a result of the Bothwell Road notices, the city already has made one change in its procedure. From now on, a small map will be printed on the back of all public hearing notices, Rosenheim said. Previously, such maps were printed only on notices concerning requested zoning changes. The Bothwell Road-Corbin Avenue project did not require a zoning change, although city planners approved a map detailing the construction plans.

Bothwell Road residents are upset with the city’s notification procedures and do not oppose the entire construction project, Warshawsky said.

However, residents have some concerns about the project, he said. Approved plans say one side of one of the new homes would abut Bothwell Road, and a 6-foot block wall would separate it from the street. Warshawsky said he would like the wall eliminated and the house made to face the street to allow a larger setback between the house and the street.

A similar adjustment was made on a house lot on the Corbin Avenue side of the project at the request of Corbin Avenue residents who had attended the public hearing, Reznik said.

The developer “stands ready, willing and able to virtually give the neighborhood unlimited control over the aesthetics” of the project, Glushon said.