Encino Residents Criticize Plan for Apartments

Encino residents told a hearing examiner for the city Planning Commission on Monday that apartments proposed near the White Oak Avenue Post Office would ruin their postwar tract of two-bedroom homes, and they urged him to support a plan to ban multifamily housing there.

But a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service, which owns the controversial property, said the government agency needs to lease the site for development to protect its investment, and it decided that housing was a better alternative than a commercial project.

About 20 residents attended the hearing at the Van Nuys Woman’s Club. Hearing Examiner Richard M. Takase said he would issue his recommendation to the Planning Commission in two to three weeks.

At issue is a proposal by Councilwoman Joy Picus to place qualifying conditions on the site, which is zoned for commercial development, to prohibit multifamily housing and require any proposed development to be reviewed by the City Council.

The site, a full city block, is on the west side of White Oak Avenue between Rhoda Avenue and Hatteras Street. Once a hub of small neighborhood shops, it now contains the vacant Encino Municipal Courthouse. The Postal Service has proposed leasing the site to the building firm Tutor-Saliba Properties for development into a 112-unit apartment complex.

Jim Dawson, an aide to Picus, told Takase an existing apartment building on Hatteras Street was a source of crime, noise and deterioration--to the chagrin of single-family homeowners in Encino Park, a 41-year-old tract undergoing a revival with an influx of young families.

But Edward L. Locke, an assets manager for the Postal Service’s real estate division, said the government paid too much for the land and bought more than it needed in 1982 for the White Oak Avenue branch. Apartments would generate less traffic than an office building or shopping center, he said.

“We’re not trying to ram something down your throats, but still, we’ve got to protect our investment,” Locke said.

Estheranne Billings, president of the Encino Park Improvement Committee, said residents wanted the site developed into a park with a community center.

The Planning Commission will consider the recommendation at its Sept. 27 meeting, Takase said, and make a recommendation to the City Council.