Warner Ridge Plan OKd While Bradley...

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Joy Picus outflanked a developer and possibly Mayor Tom Bradley by getting a measure killing commercial development at Warner Ridge signed into law by the city’s acting mayor Wednesday only hours after Bradley left town.

At Picus’ request, City Council President John Ferraro--who acts as mayor in Bradley’s absence--signed the measure zoning the 21.5-acre Warner Ridge property to permit only single-family homes. The measure had received final approval from the council only the day before.

Developer Albert Spound had urged Bradley to veto it. Spound and his partner, Johnson Wax Development Co., want to build a half-dozen low-rise office structures on the Woodland Hills site, while Picus has been trying for the past year to block the development.

It could not be determined whether Ferraro’s action reversed what Bradley would have done or simply did it earlier. Bradley, who was in Washington, D.C., could not be reached for comment.

Bradley aides said Tuesday that the mayor had not made up his mind on the issue but intended to review it carefully. Until Ferraro acted, Bradley had until next week to do so.

But a livid Spound said the mayor’s planning deputy, Jane Blumenfeld, had signaled him that Bradley intended to veto the single-family plan. Blumenfeld and other Bradley aides, including Deputy Mayor Mark Fabiani, did not return phone calls about the issue.

“We had the veto,” Spound said. “We were completely robbed.”

The measure passed the council by a vote of 12 to 1. Even if Bradley had vetoed the measure, Picus could have overridden the veto if she held onto those votes.

Spound said he intended to sue the city to overturn the single-family zoning. “We’re putting the finishing touches on our lawsuit,” he said.

Picus asked Ferraro on Tuesday evening to sign the single-family zoning measure into law after learning Bradley was scheduled to leave town Wednesday--the first day the measure would be on the mayor’s desk.

Ferraro, who sided with Picus on the Warner Ridge council votes, automatically becomes acting mayor when Bradley leaves the city.

Bradley left Wednesday for Washington on an 8:45 a.m. flight from Los Angeles International Airport to attend an illiteracy conference and is due to return Friday afternoon. Ferraro said he signed the measure at 10:15 a.m., less than two hours later.

“I knew John would sign it, but I had no idea what Tom would do,” Picus said.

Meanwhile, some city officials speculated that Ferraro tackled the Warner Ridge measure in part to demonstrate the council’s displeasure with recent Bradley efforts to intervene in planning matters. Council members traditionally regard as one of their prerogatives virtual sole say-so on planning issues in their districts.

Ferraro denied such speculation, saying he acted only to help Picus. “She’s one of my constituents. She votes for president of the council,” he said.

But Ferraro, who as the council’s leader is also champion of the lawmaking body’s prerogatives, also told a reporter that he had noticed the mayor “has gotten very involved in planning matters recently.”

Ferraro then cited several cases in which Bradley had been at loggerheads with council members on planning issues in their districts. Among those cases were Bradley’s criticism last December of Councilman Hal Bernson’s plans for the huge Porter Ranch project above Chatsworth and the mayor’s recent efforts to help devise a development plan for Farmers Market, an area of the Fairfax district represented by Ferraro.