Fox Expansion Plan Clears First Hurdle : Development: Over objections from activists, the Planning Commission votes to consider the proposal.

Over the protests of neighborhood activists, the Los Angeles City Planning Commission last week initiated what promises to be an extended review of plans by 20th Century Fox Film Corp. for a major expansion of its Century City studio.

In its vote Thursday, the Planning Commission authorized its staff to begin reviewing a proposed zone change and modification of the Century City South Specific Plan, which would let Fox add 771,000 square feet to its 1.1-million-square-foot facility.

Neighborhood activists are disappointed by the commission action, saying that mere consideration of the measure is bound to lead to some sort of studio expansion in an area already plagued by traffic congestion.

Laura Lake, president of the Friends of Westwood, said, “This action today represents the first of many nods the city will give to Fox while pretending not to support the trashing of protection the current plan provides for the residential community.”

The commission rejected calls by Lake and a half dozen others to postpone its vote and conduct a public hearing before opening formal consideration of the Fox proposal.

Planning commissioners insisted that their action was merely a formality--a beginning of the city’s review that does not judge the merit’s of the studio expansion.

“There is no prejudgment in any fashion,” said commission President William G. Luddy.

The city attorney’s office has advised the Planning Commission that it must review such requests, Luddy said. Property owners are entitled to have zone change requests reviewed by city officials, according to the Municipal Code, said Deputy City Atty. Claudia Culling.

But opponents said Thursday that formal review of the proposal should not begin, if at all, without a public hearing.

“It’s a very different situation when you come to the microphone to discuss a (specific) plan amendment, than when you come to the microphone to discuss whether any plan amendment should even be considered,” protested Sandy Brown, co-chair of the Westside Civic Federation.

Commissioners were not swayed, saying the public will have ample opportunity to comment on the plan for studio expansion during the coming year.

A public hearing on the Fox proposal is expected next spring before a city hearing examiner, with additional hearings anticipated before the Planning Commission and City Council, planning officials said.

The entire review could take up to a year, said Bob Rogers, a hearing examiner with the Planning Department.

City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky supported Thursday’s commission vote, saying in a letter that “no approval of the zone change is intended or implied.”

The councilman, who represents the community surrounding the studio, said he has not taken a position on the expansion proposal. The studio has been meeting with community groups to try to work out a compromise, said Vivian Rescalvo, a planning deputy for Yaroslavsky.

Previously, Fox had planned to leave the historic movie lot between Pico and Olympic boulevards and move to the outskirts of Los Angeles, where land is cheaper. Under that plan, the company would have sought to develop high-rise condominiums on the Century City lot.

But the studio ultimately decided to stay on the property and seek approval of its plan to build 479,000 square feet of offices, 172,000 square feet of post-production facilities and a 120,000-square-foot facility to house Fox’s KTTV television station, now located in Hollywood.

A company study, released last year, showed that the expansion would cause traffic in the neighborhood to double. But the report said congestion would be negligible because the studio would pay $5 million to improve traffic signals, turn lanes and freeway ramps.

Fox officials have said that if the expansion is denied, they will be forced to move out of the area, taking with them thousands of jobs and other economic benefits.

Lake said the Planning Commission should not be “blackmailed” by Fox’s suggestion it might leave. She predicted that if the company moved out, another studio might buy the property.

Alternatively, Lake said, the property might be redeveloped with housing, as Fox once envisioned. But she said that alternative also should be strictly controlled to ensure that new apartments and condominiums would be the same size as those in surrounding neighborhoods.