Local News in Brief : County Rejects Plan for Gyroscope Plant

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Thursday refused to grant permission for a defense firm to build a gyroscope manufacturing plant near residences and a school in Calabasas.

The board voted 3 to 0 to turn down an application by the Condor Pacific Co. to build the plant on a 2.7-acre site at Malibu Hills Road near Lost Hills Road, saying that chemicals and hazardous materials used in the manufacturing process might pose a threat to the surrounding area.

Voting for the denial were Supervisors Mike Antonovich, Deane Dana and Pete Schabarum. Supervisors Kenneth Hahn and Ed Edelman did not attend the hearing.

More than 100 residents who opposed the project cheered and applauded after the vote.

Condor Pacific was seeking to have the zoning of the property changed from allowing unlimited commercial uses to allowing industrial and commercial uses, said Dave Vannatta, regional planning deputy for Antonovich.

However, area residents feared that materials to be used in the plant would be harmful, he said. The location is a quarter of a mile from the A.E. Wright Middle School.

Antonovich said during the hearing that he did not think the site was an appropriate location for the plant. He said he was persuaded by the citizen opposition to deny the application.

The firm had sought to quell concerns by holding an open house at its Van Nuys facility, Vannatta said. But residents were never convinced that the proposed plant would be safe, he said.