City Attorney Asked to Block Porter Ranch Hearing

Opponents of a 1,300-acre development proposal in Porter Ranch have asked the Los Angeles city attorney to postpone city consideration of the project because of alleged city violations of municipal, state and federal laws or court orders.

The Board of Referred Powers, composed of five city council members, is to consider the proposal today. It calls for 2,195 single-family homes, 800 multifamily housing units and 7.5 million square feet of commercial space in the hills north of the Simi Valley Freeway.

A group of north San Fernando Valley residents, known as PRIDE, said Tuesday it asked the city attorney’s office to rule on 29 “actual or potential violations of municipal, state and federal laws or court orders” involving the project.

The complaints in a letter by PRIDE spokesman Robert Birch questioned the adequacy of the project’s environmental impact report and charged that city officials are in a “headlong rush” to approve the development.

Deputy City Atty. Anthony C. Alperin said he had not seen Birch’s letter.

City Councilman Hal Bernson, who supports most of the project and is president of the Board of Referred Powers, declined to comment Tuesday. Bernson aide Greig Smith said the board is expected to hold a public hearing and to make a decision afterward.

The Board of Referred Powers is hearing the case in place of the Planning Commission. The city attorney disqualified the commission because one commissioner had a conflict of interest involving property he owns near Porter Ranch.

Last week, PRIDE asked City Council President John Ferraro to remove Bernson from the board because he has received large campaign contributions from the developer and the developer’s associates.

The Board of Referred Powers consists of Bernson and council members Richard Alatorre, Marvin Braude, Joan Milke Flores and Zev Yaroslavsky. Since 1982, the Porter Ranch developer, consultants working on the project and related companies and individuals have contributed $50,380 to Bernson, $10,000 to Braude, $27,800 to Flores and $11,699 to Yaroslavsky, according to an analysis of campaign records by The Times. Alatorre, elected in 1985, received $10,350 from companies and individuals with ties to Porter Ranch.

The board’s decision will be in the form of a recommendation to the City Council, which would make the final decision.

The Porter Ranch Development Co., run by Beverly Hills builder Nathan Shapell, wants to build office buildings up to 15 stories high and a shopping mall about the size of the Northridge Fashion Center.

Bernson has recommended buildings no higher than 12 stories and has suggested about 6 million square feet of commercial space, 2,195 single-family homes and 1,200 multifamily housing units in Porter Ranch.

Critics have said the project would cause intolerable traffic congestion; Bernson and city planners have said it would help finance needed public works improvements the city could not otherwise afford.