Panel Approves Environmental Study of Monorail : Transportation: A report on a rival underground line was previously OKd. The action sets the stage for a decision on which of the two projects should be built.

A county panel on Wednesday unanimously approved an environmental study of a monorail over the Ventura Freeway, setting the stage for a decision later this year on which of two competing rail projects should be built in the San Fernando Valley.

The Los Angeles County Transportation Commission’s vote, after a long and acrimonious session attended by more than 100 people, is not an endorsement of building a monorail. Rather, it means only that the commission determined that the study had adequately addressed the environmental effects of a $2.6-billion rail line along the freeway median from Universal City to Woodland Hills.

Rather than discussing the study’s conclusions, supporters and opponents turned the three-hour hearing into a forum for noisily airing the relative merits and drawbacks of the monorail proposal. Most of the speakers urged the commission to approve the study to hurry along a decision on which of the two long-debated projects should be built.

The Transportation Commission has already approved an environmental study for a rival project: a $3-billion rail line that would run mostly underground from North Hollywood to Warner Center in Woodland Hills. The route is called the Burbank-Chandler line because it would run parallel to Burbank and Chandler boulevards.

Two weeks ago, a commission committee assigned its staff to evaluate the alternatives and to recommend which should be built. The commission is expected to meet in November or December to choose one of the two alternatives.

The projects have split homeowner groups in the Valley into warring factions, each of which opposes the rail project that would most affect their neighborhood and supports the rival line.

At times, Wednesday’s meeting became heated, with the rival groups accusing each other of lying and spreading misleading propaganda to support their position.

Residents along the freeway route who oppose a monorail waved placards that read “No Monorail” and “Pro-Subway.” They said the monorail would be a visual blight, create noise and vibration and generate traffic congestion around the stops.

Their concerns were echoed by elected officials who represent either all or parts of the freeway route, including state Sen. Herschel Rosenthal (D-Los Angeles), Assemblyman Terry B. Friedman (D-Los Angeles) and Congressman Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Los Angeles). Aides to each of them read prepared statements opposing the monorail plan.

Los Angeles City Councilman Marvin Braude said the Transportation Commission already has purchased the right of way for the Burbank-Chandler line from Southern Pacific railroad for $115 million and should stop spending money on the monorail.

“The Valley has waited long enough for its share of the transit dollar,” he said.

A Beilenson representative said the congressman opposes a monorail because it would mean riders would have to transfer from the underground Metro Red Line at Universal Studio to the monorail system.

The Burbank line “would enable Valley commuters to get downtown faster, and without being forced to switch from one system to another,” Beilenson said in a statement read at the commission hearing.

Monorail supporters, who waved paper fans that read “I’m a Fan of Monorail,” said opponents are a vocal minority and do not represent the majority of Valley residents.

Monorail advocates, including county Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who is chairman of the Transportation Commission, have noted that 48% of the voters in a 1990 advisory referendum supported a monorail line, compared to only 10% who indicated they backed a subway.

“It must be obvious to even the casual observer that the opponents of monorail are a vocal minority,” said Don Schultz, president of the Van Nuys Homeowners Assn.

Supporters say a monorail would be superior because it would attract motorists who would see the rail line overhead while stuck in traffic on the clogged Ventura Freeway.

“Our association with subways are New York, filth and crime,” said Studio City resident Richard Paul. “Our association with monorail is Disneyland, happiness and light.”

The environmental report for the monorail line said construction of the project would have four significant and unavoidable adverse effects:

* The project would displace 11 residences and 98 businesses.

* Construction on the median would disrupt traffic on the Ventura Freeway, one of the busiest in the nation.

* Nearly half of the monorail’s elevated track would run along residential neighborhoods, and riders would be able to peer from the trains into residences and yards.

* Nearly 19 acres of parkland in the Sepulveda Basin would be turned into parking lots and stations for the monorail.