Bernson to Reconsider School Plan : Porter Ranch Site Is Near Earthquake Fault, Officials Say

Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson agreed Tuesday to reconsider a proposal he had made for a future school site in a large development proposed for Porter Ranch, after school officials pointed out that the site is alongside a potentially active fault.

“If there is any question about it, we should look into it, and obviously we’re not going to set aside any site if it is not deemed to be safe,” Bernson said. “I’m not locked into that site.”

Bernson suggested that the Los Angeles Unified School District’s concern about the fault is a political tactic by school board member Julie Korenstein, who is involved in a heated reelection campaign.

Bernson’s comments paralleled charges by Korenstein’s opponent in the June 6 runoff election, Gerald E. Horowitz. Bernson, who supports most of the $2-billion Porter Ranch project, has endorsed Horowitz.

Korenstein last week came out against the Porter Ranch project. She said Tuesday that her job as a board member includes being concerned about whether a future school site might be especially susceptible to earthquakes.

3,000 Residences

The Porter Ranch Development Co. wants to build 7.5 million square feet of commercial space and about 3,000 residences on vacant land north of the Simi Valley Freeway in Chatsworth. Bernson has recommended that the Los Angeles City Planning Commission, which is scheduled to consider the plan May 25, allow about 6 million square feet of commercial space and 3,395 homes.

Bernson recommended last month that the commission require the developer to set aside a 5-acre parcel for a school site at the southwest corner of the future intersection of Sesnon Boulevard and Winnetka Avenue.

Bernson did not define the precise boundaries of the site, but an environmental impact report prepared for the developer shows what it called the “potentially active” Devonshire Fault running through that general area.

School officials are “not sure at all” that the site is unsafe, said Elizabeth J. Harris, a real estate specialist for the district.

Paul Clarke, a spokesman for Porter Ranch Development, maintained that the fault is actually outside the site. Any school building there could be built at least 50 feet away from the fault, the distance required by city law, he said.