Group Backs Porter Ranch Plan : Critics Question Developer’s Influence on Citizens Panel

As a proposal for a $2-billion development at Porter Ranch approaches a key hearing Thursday before the Los Angeles Planning Commission, backers of the project are pointing to its nearly unanimous endorsement by a committee of citizens who live or work in Northridge or Chatsworth.

Eager to marshal public support, officials of Porter Ranch Development Co. have suggested that the plan for about 3,000 residences and 7.5 million square feet of commercial space in the hills above Chatsworth is as much the work of the citizens panel as of the developer. And City Councilman Hal Bernson, who appointed the 14-member committee in 1987, described it as “a cross-section of the community.”

But a review of members’ backgrounds and interviews with dissident members raise questions about whether the panel was, in fact, broad-based and independent of representatives of the developer, who participated in its meetings.

Executive of Consulting Firm

Eleven of the panel members are in business, including four who work in real estate or land development. One member is an executive of a consulting firm that worked for the developer on the Porter Ranch project.

The panel includes a former and a current president of the Rock Point Homeowners Assn. But the president described himself as “somebody that approves of growth.”

By contrast, no member is employed by environmental agencies or groups, nor is a spokesman for “slow-growth” organizations.

Bernson said the panel included “no-growth” advocates, but declined to name them. “I don’t want to get into personalities,” he said.

Although not announced to the public, the committee’s meetings were always attended by several consultants, as well as the developer representatives--including former City Councilman Robert Wilkinson--who often commented on or sought to refute statements by committee members.

“I felt like they, particularly in some meetings, . . . ran the meeting,” said one city official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Also attending were officials from the city planning and transportation departments, which support the project because of road improvements that the developer is expected to finance.

The Porter Ranch representatives “sat in on the meetings every night and if there was ever any discussion among the members,” they would “jump up and start trying to, quote, clear the air or to explain the situation, but it was always a very lopsided, one-sided viewpoint,” complained Faires Ruddell, the only dissenter from the panel’s 13-1 vote in favor of the plan.

“I feel used,” said Ruddell, an insurance agent who lives in Simi Valley. It “was pretty much predetermined what was going to happen.”

John Kelly, who resigned from the committee in a dispute with chairman Howard Green, said: “I can’t think of anything that was presented to us that wasn’t from the developer’s viewpoint.”

Needed at Meetings

But other committee members sharply disagreed. They said they needed project officials at the meetings to answer questions. They denied that they were overly influenced by the developer’s needs and views.

The developer’s representatives “were more helpful than they were disruptive,” said Green, an insurance agent from Chatsworth.

“I’m sure we asked them for their opinions from time to time because they had the background on the project that we didn’t have,” said committee member Robert Whyte, a retired salesman from Chatsworth and president of the Rock Point homeowner group. “We had to get it from somewhere.”

Several committee members said they sometimes had to rebuke the developer representatives for taking up too much time during the meetings.

“There were many times when we just told them to sit down and observe and be quiet, so it was not at all a matter of the tail wagging the dog,” said Leo Gendernalik, a Northridge developer and vice chairman of the panel.

Thanks to the committee’s work, there will be a long-term plan for development of the 1,300-acre site, said member Frank Mazzeo of Northridge, an official of Allied-Signal Aerospace Co.

“There is a benefit to having a 20-year plan,” Mazzeo said. Without it, “helter-skelter development” might result, he said.

Many Concessions

And members said they secured many concessions from the developer, proving that they were not unduly influenced.

For example, the developer’s plan for 9 million square feet of office and commercial space was shaved to 7.5 million square feet. The developer also agreed to provide cultural amenities, such as a theater, under pressure from the committee, members said.

With development of a scenic tract on the property a foregone conclusion, the goal was to “squeeze our developer real hard so he can give us the amenities the community needs,” said member Arthur Pfefferman, president of the Donut Inn chain.

Committee members, who served as unpaid volunteers, said they spent countless hours reviewing reports and attending dozens of meetings during a 14-month period.

Porter Ranch representatives have been quick to characterize the plan as one proposed by citizens, rather than by the developer.

“To call it a developer’s plan would be unfair to the citizens who spent 15 months of their lives putting it together,” said Paul Clarke, a spokesman for the development firm.

But Paul Chipello of Northridge, a critic of the proposal, said it should not be described as “the citizens’ plan,” but as “the developer’s plan that had been somewhat modified by” the committee.

Moreover, Chipello, who heads a group called PRIDE that is opposed to the development, said strong community opposition at public hearings earlier this year shows that the panel was not truly representative of the northwest San Fernando Valley.

“It’s very apparent to anyone that public support . . . is certainly not 13 to 1 in favor of it,” he said.

Bernson said he has been using citizens committees over the past 10 years to involve the public in development decisions. In the case of Porter Ranch, Bernson said, he supports approval of about 6 million square feet of commercial space, a 20% cut from the committee’s recommendation.

“They have a great deal of clout with me,” Bernson said. “I would say that about 95% of the time I go along with the committees.”

One of Bernson’s appointees is Frank Wein, an official with Michael Brandman Associates, a consulting firm that helped prepare the environmental impact report for Porter Ranch Development. Wein was out of town and could not be reached for comment.

Several committee members said that they did not know that Wein worked for Brandman or that Brandman worked on the project. They also said Wein raised good questions and did not seem to support the project more than other members.

Bernson said he was unaware of Wein’s ties to Brandman or of Brandman’s involvement in the project. Clarke, the Porter Ranch spokesman, said Wein was not directly involved in Brandman’s work.

Most of the committee’s information came from the developer and from the city, both supporters of the project.

City departments--such as fire, and recreation and parks--gave presentations at some committee meetings. But the panel did not hear from environmental agencies, such as the South Coast Air Quality Management District, according to several committee members.

Although city planners staffed the meetings, the committee did not have independent technical or legal experts review the developer’s plans and data.

Last fall, some panel members discussed whether to require Porter Ranch to make traffic improvements beyond those the developer thought justified, Kelly said. At the next meeting, he said, he was handed a legal opinion from the firm’s lawyer contending that such improvements could not be required. The opinion was written by Daniel P. Garcia, who had recently resigned as president of the City Planning Commission and had become an attorney for Porter Ranch. Kelly said he felt “a little intimidated.”

The Porter Ranch project, to be built over 20 to 30 years, would be among the largest in Los Angeles history. It would house about 9,300 residents, employ 27,000 workers, and include office buildings and a shopping mall the size of Northridge Fashion Center.

Porter Ranch Development is a partnership of Liberty Building Co. and Shapell Industries, headed by Beverly Hills developer Nathan Shapell. He also chairs the Commission on State Government Organization and Economy, a government operations watchdog panel better known as the Little Hoover Commission, and is a big contributor to charitable causes, and state and local election campaigns.

The Times reported in March that Shapell Industries and other building and consulting firms and individuals connected with the project contributed $410,000 in campaign funds since 1982 to the mayor and members of the City Council, which ultimately will decide the project’s fate. The largest council recipient was Bernson, who received $50,380 from them.

Committee members said they do not believe that any member would benefit directly from the project.

But most committee members believe that the project will raise property values and benefit business in the area.

“More bodies is going to have to be more business for everyone,” said member Paul Smith of Woodland Hills, who owns a liquor store at Tampa Avenue and Rinaldi Street, east of the project site.

Gendernalik said the project would enhance local real estate values. “In terms of how it’s laid out, how it’s planned . . . it cannot help but do that,” he said.

Gendernalik added: “I’m very excited about the work that the committee has produced, and I’m anxious to see it take form.” No other large development has been planned “with as much forethought,” he said.

“I don’t think there’s anything like it in the city of Los Angeles.”

The Planning Commission could make a recommendation to the City Council on Thursday.

THE COMMITTEE

Howard Green, independent insurance agent, lives in Chatsworth (chairman).

Leo Gendernalik, president of Umbrella Inc., a real estate development firm, lives in Northridge (vice chairman).

Mary Lee, president of Valley College in Van Nuys, lives in Chatsworth.

Frank Mazzeo, employee communications manager for Allied-Signal Aerospace Co., lives in Northridge.

Richard Miller, Century 21 real estate agent, lives in Chatsworth.

Ray Mulokas, architect and builder, Mulokas-Lentz Construction, lives in Chatsworth.

Arthur Pfefferman, president of Donut Inn chain, lives in Northridge.

Faires Ruddell, agent for State Farm Insurance, lives in Simi Valley.

Victor Sampson, owner of Don Ricardo’s restaurants, lives in Northridge.

Paul Smith, owner of Northridge Hills Liquor & Wine Warehouse, lives in Woodland Hills.

Guy Swanson, retired salesman, lives in Chatsworth.

Gary Washburn, real estate broker with R R Gable real estate firm, lives in Chatsworth.

Frank Wein, executive with Michael Brandman Associates consulting firm, lives in Northridge.

Robert Whyte, retired salesman, heads condominium owners association in the Rock Point area of Chatsworth.