Encino Building Permit Upheld : Development: Homeowners complained about the wrong project after receiving plans of a different Ventura Boulevard complex.

Angry Encino homeowners Tuesday failed in their effort to require the developer of a controversial retail and office complex on Ventura Boulevard at Woodley Avenue to prepare an environmental impact report.

Although the homeowners claimed that the report was needed to determine measures for coping with the additional congestion and noise that the project would bring to the area, the Los Angeles Building and Safety Commission ruled that city building and safety officials were justified in issuing a permit to Golden West Properties without requiring the report.

The commissioners said they felt that the effect on traffic and noise had been adequately addressed by the developer.

Jerry Silver, president of Homeowners of Encino, said he was considering legal action to halt the project. “We have to consider all our options, but we are not happy with what has happened today,” he said following the five-member panel’s unanimous decision.

The three-story project, which will cost at least $10 million, is composed of 49,000 square feet of retail space, 20,000 square feet of office space and an 11,500-square-foot restaurant.

Residents who appeared before the commission said they had not been given adequate notice of the project by city officials. Silver said that when he learned of the project last August, he asked representatives of Los Angeles City Councilman Marvin Braude to send him documents on the proposed project so that he could file a formal protest.

However, Silver said he was mistakenly sent documents about a different Ventura Boulevard project and unwittingly filed a protest against the wrong project. He learned later that the permit was granted after no opposition was registered.

“The citizens were denied due process,” Silver said. “The mix-up on the notification took their rights away from them. This project is aesthetically unacceptable and cannot be allowed.”

Benjamin Reznik, attorney for Golden West Properties, said the project was reviewed and approved by the city’s Department of Transportation and the Building and Safety Department’s Environmental Review Committee. “There is no substantial evidence to show that this project will have a negative impact,” he said.