24-Acre Site in Northridge : 100 Residents Protest Office Complex Proposal

About 100 Northridge residents on Tuesday protested a plan to build a 250,000-square-foot office complex in their neighborhood.

The seven 2-story office buildings, proposed for a 24.3-acre site at Devonshire Street and Wilbur Avenue, would cause traffic congestion and parking problems, the residents told a Los Angeles Planning Department hearing examiner at a Van Nuys public hearing.

Representatives of ASL Financial, an Encino developer, countered that nearby major streets could handle traffic from the project and that the complex would have more than enough parking. They added that the project site includes playing fields for a youth baseball league serving 800 youngsters.

Hearing officer Karin Hodin said she will make a recommendation on the project to the city Planning Commission later this year. The Planning Department, in a preliminary report, recommended against the project. The site is zoned for low-density housing, or a maximum of 73 residences.

The residents’ group presented a petition reportedly signed by about 1,000 people opposed to the project. Spokesman Jack Cox called on City Councilman Hal Bernson, who represents the area, to oppose the office park.

Bernson said he is “still in the listening stages” regarding the proposal. He said he has opposed 10 previous proposals for the site but is considering the latest one partly because it would benefit the Northridge Baseball Assn.

There have been seven ball fields on the site for 17 years. According to the ASL proposal, three of the fields would be moved to another spot on the site, and all seven would be donated to the city--which would enter into a 99-year, $1-per-year lease with the association.

ASL representatives said the ball fields and planned landscaping would help shield the development from the surrounding neighborhood.

George Hall, a board member of the association, told the hearing officer Tuesday that he supports the office park. “Building homes on that land would mean the Little League would be gone,” he said.

But Cox and the project’s opponents disputed Hall’s assessment, maintaining that city regulations call for the fields to remain open space if houses are built on the property.