City Halts Project at Fryman Canyon : Development: The Cultural Heritage Commission is determining whether the Studio City canyon should be preserved as a monument instead of turned into a housing tract.

A developer has been prohibited from beginning construction on a controversial housing tract in scenic Fryman Canyon in Studio City until a city commission decides whether the oak-shaded canyon should be preserved as a cultural monument, city officials said Monday.

In a separate action, Mayor Tom Bradley also ordered that developer Fred Sahadi be prevented from starting work on the 63-acre wooded site, off Laurel Canyon Boulevard near Mulholland Drive, until he completes all environmental studies required by the state and federal government.

Sahadi had planned to start grading the land this week. In 1988, the city Department of Building and Safety issued a grading permit for the parcel and an attorney representing the Century City developer said Sahadi thought he had all the permits he needed to begin work.

Attorney Kenneth Bley denied accusations by foes of the project that Sahadi may have been trying to evade development regulations.

“There was never any intent to do anything which he was not fully permitted to do,” Bley said. “Nobody said there was a problem here, then all of a sudden, bang.”

State Department of Fish and Game officials said, however, that Sahadi has not reached a stream bed alteration agreement with the department, which the state requires for any project that disturbs a natural waterway. City and state officials said the Army Corps of Engineers also may require Sahadi to obtain a special federal waterway construction permit before he begins work because the site contains year-round streams.

Two fish and game wardens were at the site Monday morning, prepared to make arrests to halt any bulldozing.

The city Department of Building and Safety also issued a stop-work order Friday after foes of the development--homeowners who have banded together as the Urban Wilderness Coalition--appealed to the City Cultural Heritage Commission to protect the canyon, arguing that it is an irreplaceable wilderness area, unlike any other natural habitat in the city.

The commission agreed to consider whether the site should be preserved as a monument, commission President Amarjit Marwah said.

Although the commission generally deals with human-made structures, it has designated individual avocado and fig trees as historical monuments when they have had particular significance to California history, Marwah said. The commissioners will visit the site next week, he said, and then have 60 days to make their recommendation.

Even if the commission decides that the site is not a cultural treasure, the Department of Building and Safety will prevent work until state and federal agencies are satisfied that the development will not adversely affect the environment, said Deputy Mayor Mike Fabiani.

Dave Drake, a wildlife biologist with the state Department of Fish and Game, said that the developer must prepare a biological survey to determine whether endangered species live on the project site, or if there are any active bird nests on the property.

Sahadi also may have to update his environmental impact report on the project. The current report was prepared in 1978.

But the developer disputes that these regulations apply to this project.

“There is a real issue as to whether he really needs these permits,” Bley said. But he said that “nothing will happen on the site until we take care of these problems.”

To ensure that bulldozing does not make the dispute irrelevant, foes of the project, city officials and state fish and game wardens were planning to protect the site again this morning.

“I want this here for my grandchildren,” said Judy Marx, a Laurel Canyon resident who founded the Urban Wilderness Coalition.