Bernson Criticized on Porter ‘Plan’

Why is Hal Bernson so afraid to call the Porter Ranch Specific Plan a “project” or a “development?” Does he fear that people will learn the truth about his “$2-Billion City Within a City” with its high-rise office towers and major hotels?

Granted, what we now have is simply a “plan,” but plans have a way of evolving into projects.

You can bet that developers Nathan Shapell and Larry Calemine will make certain that their plans turn into projects. They recently requested a “developers’ agreement” that would make the Porter Ranch Specific Plan law. This agreement would close off the public’s options to alter the plan in the future and would work only to the developers’ advantage.

Could it be that Shapell and Calemine fear the political demise of Hal Bernson on June 4?

Bernson’s plan is a recipe for gridlock. What the Specific Plan should contain is about 2,400 residences (as opposed to 3,400) and about one-tenth the density of Bernson’s mammoth 6-million-square-foot commercial center.

MICHELLE DIAMOND

Northridge