Compromises Bring Sylmar Project Closer to Reality

A giant industrial park proposed for a Sylmar hillside moved a step closer to reality Tuesday when a city committee and the developer agreed on several compromises.

But the committee deferred action on the most serious debate--whether developer and landowner John Symonds should be allowed to sandwich offices and manufacturing buildings on land between two earthquake faults.

The 262-acre project would be on rural land north of Foothill Boulevard and east of the Golden State Freeway. It would include 33 houses, a park and a child-care center in addition to up to 2 million square feet of industrial space.

Larry Friedman, a city planner, told members of the Planning and Land Use Management Committee that it is unwise to allow building between fault zones “if it can be reasonably avoided.”

The Planning Commission decided in September, 1988, to bar development on that land, which encompasses about one-third of the project and lies along the northern edge, near the Angeles National Forest.

Seismic Experts

Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson, chairman of the committee, said seismic experts should be asked to testify before the City Council rules on development in the fault zone. Rather than hold the entire appeal in committee, Bernson said it would be sent to the City Council with no recommendation on that issue.

The committee sided with the developer in his appeal of the Planning Commission’s limit on building height to 45 feet--three stories. Mark Armbruster, speaking for Symonds, said that in some parts of the project, industrial buildings could reach as high as six stories, about 75 feet, without intruding on neighbors’ views.

“Those areas would be the areas farthest away from homes and least visible,” Armbruster said.

Councilman Ernani Bernardi, who, with Bernson, represents people living nearest to the proposed development, agreed to the higher heights “as long as there’s open space around them, not wall to wall.”

Group Representatives

Representatives of various Sylmar homeowner and civic groups attended the meeting and supported the compromises. Most had opposed the development when it was first proposed more than three years ago, but in the interim they have worked with the developer and city officials to make the project more acceptable.

During those negotiations and through the city review process, Symonds has agreed to preserve large expanses of open land, include access for horse riders, use wrought-iron fences instead of chain-link and finance several road improvements to reduce the effect of truck and commuter traffic caused by the industrial park.

Bernardi applauded Symonds’ approach, saying, “The cooperation with the developer has been excellent.”