Panel Ends Opposition to Porter Ranch Plan : AQMD: Revisions for the development solved the problems cited by air quality officials.

Regional air quality officials gave their blessing Thursday to the huge Porter Ranch development, saying the project they had decried last January for its potential additions to traffic and smog problems has been revised enough to earn their commendation.

In a two-page letter to city planning officials, the South Coast Air Quality Management District signaled that it would no longer stand in the way of the project’s approval by the Los Angeles City Council.

On Jan. 22, the AQMD sharply criticized the proposed development’s effect on air pollution after reviewing a state-mandated environmental impact report.

“We commend the project proponents for incorporating the district’s mitigation measures,” said Pat Nemeth, AQMD deputy executive officer for planning and rules, in the agency’s latest letter. The missive summarized the AQMD’s review of a supplemental EIR that analyzed recent changes to the project.

The development’s plans call for the construction of 6 million square feet of commercial and retail space, and 3,395 dwelling units on 1,300 acres in the rolling foothills of the Santa Susana Mountains. Councilman Hal Bernson, who represents the area, has strongly supported the project.

Nemeth said the revised project will produce 150,602 vehicle trips per day--or nearly 18,000 fewer than the original project.

Two changes that cut the amount of traffic generated by the project were the reduction in the commercial and retail space in the project from 7.7 million square feet to 6 million square feet and the addition of 400 multifamily housing units to the 800 previously proposed, Nemeth’s letter indicated.

The addition of the housing units, which the developer agreed to reserve for people who work in the project’s offices or stores, will lessen traffic because those residents will not have to drive to work, regional planners said.

Despite such improvements, the project “continues to have the potential to generate significant air quality impacts,” Nemeth’s letter said.

But the letter did not reiterate harsh observations about the project made by the AQMD last January. Then, the AQMD said the project “will contribute to poor air quality” and “may exacerbate” traffic problems by creating more than 20,000 jobs.

The project’s traffic impacts were also criticized last year by the Southern California Assn. of Governments. However, more recently, staff members for the regional body have said they expect to endorse the project.

Although AQMD officials refused to characterize Nemeth’s letter as an endorsement, it was interpreted as such by the developers.

“AQMD has now endorsed the project, and we’re very happy about that,” said Paul Clarke, a spokesman for Porter Ranch Development Co., in which Shapell Industries and Liberty Building Co., are equal partners.

Clarke also said the AQMD’s January criticism of the project was misplaced. “They were criticizing a project that hadn’t existed for eight months,” he said.

Both changes stressed in Nemeth’s letter--the reduction in commercial space and the increase in housing units--had been adopted by the developer by June of last year, he said.

AQMD’s satisfaction with the plan is significant, because agency opposition would provide ammunition for project opponents.

Additionally, if its concerns were not met, the agency could challenge in court the sufficiency of the project’s environmental impact report.

Steve Smith, an AQMD air quality supervisor, said the letter signals that an AQMD court challenge of the project’s EIR is unlikely.