$2-Billion Development : Porter Ranch Plan Attacked by Most of 500 at Hearing

Most of the about 500 people at a public hearing on a $2-billion residential and commercial development proposed for the Porter Ranch area of Chatsworth expressed opposition to the project’s size and to a proposed bridge over Aliso Canyon.

The Los Angeles Planning Department is proposing that the Porter Ranch Development Co., operated by Beverly Hills builder Nathan Shapell, be allowed to build 2,195 single-family houses, 800 condominiums and 7.5-million square feet of office and retail space on 1,300 acres in the rolling hills north of the Simi Valley Freeway.

“We just feel this is much, much too big,” said John Bronner, a Porter Ranch area resident. “If I wanted to live in the city, I would move to downtown L.A.”

Although some at the hearing Thursday night spoke in favor of the proposal, they were often booed by the standing-room-only crowd at Chatsworth High School. The crowd roared approval when speakers predicted severe traffic problems and denounced the proposed bridge over Aliso Canyon.

“We’re about to see a gallon of traffic squeezed into a pint-sized container,” said David Peltz of Northridge.

An environmental impact report commissioned by the developer says that the development would generate 164,840 daily traffic trips. But the report maintains that the completion of unfinished roads--such as Sesnon Boulevard, Rinaldi Street and Corbin, Mason and Winnetka avenues--and other developer-financed traffic improvements will ease traffic congestion.

Porter Ranch Development also contends that the proposal puts needed jobs, retail space and housing close together, which will ease traffic congestion by allowing people to travel shorter distances for shopping, work and recreation.

The company also favors a development agreement that would give the city power to limit the project as it is constructed over 20 to 30 years, said Richard C. Mahan, an official of Shapell Industries.

The commercial area would include a 1.5-million-square-foot regional shopping mall, office buildings up to 15 stories and the already approved new home of the First Baptist Church of Van Nuys.

“I like the idea of having something close by,” Granada Hills resident Joanne Haines said of the commercial part of the proposal.

Porter Ranch resident Royce Underwood said the commercial area would allow her to “run all my errands without spending the day all over the Valley.”

The Aliso Canyon bridge, which the city would require the developer to build, would link Northridge to Granada Hills via Sesnon Boulevard. Many residents predict the bridge would be a shortcut for commuters who would travel through the upscale residential neighborhood to avoid the crowded Simi Valley Freeway.

“Through traffic should remain on our freeways and not cut through a residential area,” Bronner said.

Porter Ranch resident Paul Chipello, an organizer of the Porter Ranch Is Developed Enough, or PRIDE, said 700 people have signed petitions opposed to the Aliso Canyon bridge and to the size of the commercial area.

Hearing examiner Charles Rausch is expected to issue a recommendation on the city’s plan for the area within the next few weeks. The city Planning Commission has scheduled a tentative hearing date of March 23, and the City Council is expected to consider the plan later this year. The plan was engineered in consultation with a 14-member citizens advisory committee appointed by City Councilman Hal Bernson.