Bradley Delay Could Give New Life to Mall : Development: Project foes fear builder could get a permit before the mayor signs the Ventura Boulevard plan, which would block the center.

Mayor Tom Bradley’s failure--so far--to sign an ordinance limiting development on Ventura Boulevard has alarmed homeowner activists and Councilman Michael Woo, who complained Friday that the delay might open a path for construction of a controversial shopping mall.

The ordinance, the Ventura Boulevard Specific Plan, was passed by the City Council on Jan. 4 and awaits only the mayor’s signature to become law. The result of years of lobbying and work by slow-growth activists and city officials, it is expected to impose sweeping controls on commercial construction along a 17-mile stretch of the boulevard from Studio City to Woodland Hills.

But if the mayor does not act before leaving town Sunday, the shopping mall--bitterly opposed by Encino homeowners groups--may win construction approval Tuesday.

“We’re very concerned that the mayor hasn’t signed it,” Julie Jaskol, Woo’s press secretary, said Friday.

Jaskol said supporters of the limits are concerned that a delay in signing the specific plan’s companion moratorium ordinance may permit developer Jacky Gamliel to construct the shopping mall they oppose at Ventura Boulevard and Woodman Avenue.

The moratorium would immediately block issuance of new permits for construction on Ventura Boulevard until the specific plan takes effect about 30 days later.

“It’s a real disappointment,” said Richard Close, president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn. If the project is built, “we’re going to call it the Mayor Bradley shopping center,” Close said.

Late Friday, Bradley press secretary Bill Chandler, pressed to reply to news media and homeowner inquiries about the plan’s fate, predicted that “no project will have slipped through by the time the mayor acts on this.”

Chandler refused to say when the mayor would act, or that he definitely would sign the plan. But he added, “If the mayor had wanted to veto it, he would have done so already.” The third alternative is for Bradley to allow the plan to become law without his signature, which would happen if he does not sign or veto it within 10 days of receiving it.

Bradley leaves Sunday on a 10-day trip to Hawaii and Indonesia. Once he leaves town, Bradley loses his mayoral powers, including authority to sign ordinances, which transfer to the acting mayor, City Council President John Ferraro.

The city’s Building and Safety Commission is expected to vote Tuesday to grant a building permit to the Gamliel project, rejecting an appeal from Woo.

The city attorney’s office has told Woo that unless the moratorium ordinance is signed and published 24 hours before the commission acts, Gamliel would be legally entitled to a permit, Jaskol said.

Armed with a permit, Gamliel could begin construction and possibly achieve “vested” status before the specific plan takes effect. Under the vesting concept, the city cannot stop a project after construction work reaches a certain stage even if the project does not conform to the law.

“You build a pretty big hole in 30 days,” Jaskol said.

Jaskol said Woo talked to Bradley Friday and strongly urged him to sign the moratorium. Although she refused to comment on Bradley’s reaction to her boss’s urgings, Jaskol said the talk did not calm Woo’s concerns.