City Planner Rejects Work-Furlough Site
A controversial plan to convert a Studio City retirement home into a residence for prisoners participating in a work-furlough program has been rejected by a city planning official, who found the Ventura Boulevard site ill-suited to a neighborhood with nearby houses.
“Although the proposed facility would serve a beneficial purpose to the public at large, such purpose could be served as well or better in a nonresidential setting,” hearing examiner Richard M. Takase wrote in a recommendation to the City Planning Commission.
The commission is to vote on the issue Thursday at the Van Nuys Woman’s Club. Takase’s recommendation was based on an Aug. 20 hearing at which about 20 Studio City residents and business owners voiced concern about convicted criminals in their neighborhood.
Carl E. Curtis, Los Angeles County’s work-furlough director, said he will urge the commission to approve the program.
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