Simi Won’t File Suit Over Porter Ranch

The Simi Valley City Council decided Tuesday night not to file a lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles to block the $2-billion Porter Ranch development in Chatsworth because it said its concerns about increased traffic and smog have been resolved.

The council, which had faced a Friday deadline for filing a lawsuit, announced its decision not to take legal action after meeting in closed session for nearly two hours.

Councilman Bill Davis said the council had been assured by the city of Los Angeles and Porter Ranch Development Co. that a fourth lane on the Simi Valley Freeway would be built before occupancy permits are issued for 4.5 million square feet of commercial and retail space. Construction permits also would not be issued for the same amount of commercial and retail space until the fourth freeway lane is under construction.

Mayor Greg Stratton said the language guaranteeing these provisions would be included in Los Angeles’ district plan, which supersedes the Porter Ranch development’s specific plan.

The council, which voted July 23 to pursue a lawsuit against Los Angeles to block the development project, had charged that the environmental impact report on the Porter Ranch development did not adequately answer questions about how and when Los Angeles and the developer would compensate for added traffic congestion and smog that would be generated by the project.

The development, which would rank with Century City as one of the largest in Los Angeles history, will include 3,395 residences and 6 million square feet of commercial and retail office space. It would be built in the Chatsworth Hills just north of the Simi Valley Freeway and less than five miles east of Simi Valley.

According to the environmental impact report approved by the Los Angeles City Council, the Porter Ranch development will generate an additional 150,602 car trips per day in the area.

Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson, who represents the Porter Ranch area, had blasted the council’s decision to sue Los Angeles, saying that Simi Valley officials acted rashly in their decision and suggested that they may be opening themselves up to a countersuit.

Bernson could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.

Stratton said that during the past two weeks, he and Assistant City Manager Mike Sedell had met with Bernson and representatives of the Porter Ranch Development Co. to see if they could reach some sort of agreement to avoid a lawsuit.

“I think it worked out very well,” Stratton said of the negotiations. “We really wanted to see the freeway widened as quickly as possible. Now we can move forward together.

Councilman Bill Davis agreed.

“I’m still concerned with the size of the project,” Davis said. “But I felt we probably got as much as we would have if we had proceeded with a lawsuit. We did what we had to do. We held up a hammer and said, ‘Hey, negotiate guys.’ ”

Davis said a lawsuit would have cost the city a tremendous amount of money and time and “created a war between Los Angeles and Simi Valley that nobody wanted.” The council had come under attack from some residents worried that a lawsuit would cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“Our mayor did a great job and Mr. Bernson did,” Davis said. “It shows that cooler heads can sit down and work things out. It’s a win, win for both sides.”

Don Worsham, a member of PRIDE, a San Fernando Valley neighborhood group opposed to the Porter Ranch project, said his group had scheduled a news conference in front of Los Angeles City Hall at 2 p.m. today to announce whether it will file a lawsuit against the city to block the Porter Ranch development.