Potential Harm to Small Businesses Cited : Fears Detailed on Porter Ranch Project

The Granada Hills Chamber of Commerce has expressed concern that a proposed 1,300-acre housing and commercial development in the Porter Ranch area of Chatsworth could hurt small businesses in the northwest San Fernando Valley.

The chamber passed a resolution Tuesday night calling on the Porter Ranch developer, who would include a 1.5-million-square-foot regional shopping mall in the project, to study more the potential effect on small businesses as well as traffic in the area.

“The feeling was that the large commercial development planned up in Porter Ranch would have an extremely adverse effect on the businesses,” said David R. Miller, president of the 400-member group. He referred specifically to businesses in commercial strips along Chatsworth Street in Granada Hills and Devonshire Street in Chatsworth.

North of Freeway

Porter Ranch Development Corp., which is run by Beverly Hills developer Nathan Shapell, is proposing about 3,000 homes and 7.7 million square feet of commercial space for the rolling hills north of the Simi Valley Freeway in Chatsworth.

Representatives of the developer have disclosed few details about the proposed mall, except to say that it would include “upscale” department stores. The commercial area would also include a neighborhood shopping center with supermarkets, large drug stores and “other neighborhood shopping uses,” according to the developer’s summary of the proposal.

The chamber’s resolution did not oppose the Porter Ranch proposal but clearly expressed concern about small businesses and traffic congestion.

“We believe that these two issues must be answered before any further approvals are forthcoming,” the resolution said.

Finishing Streets

Porter Ranch Development representatives have stressed that the company plans to avoid traffic problems by paying $40 million to $50 million to complete unfinished streets and computerize traffic signals, among other things.

The developer also commissioned a marketing study, which showed that the growing northwest Valley can absorb the proposed commercial area, said Paul Clarke, spokesman for the developer. The study showed that the commercial area would serve only 60% of new demand created between now and 2010, he said.

Moreover, many of the existing small businesses in the northwest Valley serve local neighborhoods and probably would not compete with businesses in the proposed project area, Clarke said.

A Planning Department public hearing on the Porter Ranch proposal is scheduled Feb. 23 in Chatsworth. The Planning Commission and the City Council are expected to consider the proposal later this year.