Porter Ranch Plan Linked to Upgrade of Simi Freeway

Los Angeles officials should not allow a developer to build more than 20% of the proposed 7.5 million square feet of commercial development in the Porter Ranch area of Chatsworth until the state agrees to pay for widening the Simi Valley Freeway, the Department of City Planning recommended Monday.

Holding the project to 1.5 million square feet until a fourth lane in each direction is funded would allow “neighborhood shopping uses, such as grocery stores and small shopping centers, as well as some office uses,” the department’s report said.

“After there is a guarantee” of a wider freeway for the six miles from Balboa Boulevard to the Ventura County line, the report said, “then the developer can proceed with further more intense commercial development.”

Original Proposal

The original proposal for the hilly 1,300 acres north of the freeway was the product of negotiations among the Porter Ranch Development Co., city planners and a citizens committee appointed by City Councilman Hal Bernson. It called for 2,195 houses, 800 condominiums and 7.5 million square feet of commercial space, including a large mall and office buildings up to 15 stories high.

The planning department’s suggested changes in that plan represent its recommendation to the City Planning Commission, which has scheduled an April 13 public hearing on the matter. The commission ordinarily follows the staff recommendations. The final decision is expected to be made later this year by the City Council.

Other recommended changes included:

A 13% cut in the number of proposed single-family homes--from 2,195 to 1,905--to allow more equestrian trails and open space.

A 9% cut in the commercial space that would be allowed even with the extra freeway lanes. To make a residential buffer zone, the report recommended that an area proposed for 5-story commercial buildings, which would total 672,500 square feet of commercial space, be changed to two-story apartments or condominiums of no more than 400 units.

Studies on whether the developer should help pay for a bridge to extend Mason Avenue across the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks.

Impact Downplayed

Paul Clarke, a spokesman for Porter Ranch Development, minimized the impact of the report.

“Plan number one was the citizens advisory committee plan, and now we’re looking at plan number 2,” Clarke said. “Before we’re through with this, we’re going to be looking at plans five, six and seven.”

The extra freeway lanes are among many projects in the state’s five-year, $14-billion highway plan, which has a projected $3.5-billion deficit.

Clarke said Caltrans has told Porter Ranch Development that the extra lane has been funded, but the planning report said it has not been. Caltrans officials were unavailable for comment late Monday.