WOODLAND HILLS : Warner Ridge Project Wins Approval of Council
The Los Angeles City Council approved Wednesday a development agreement for the Warner Ridge project in Woodland Hills, ending a seven-year legal and political battle.
The 21.5-acre project, to be completed in two phases, will include a 690-square-foot commercial complex and 125 units of condominiums. The development agreement must be signed by Mayor Tom Bradley before developers can proceed with plans to break ground early next year.
The vote was 10 to 3, with Joy Picus, Ernani Bernardi and Joel Wachs opposing the project. Picus, who represents the district that includes Warner Ridge, has argued against all development in the area except single-family homes, saying “condos and cows” kept at the neighboring Pierce College “don’t match.”
Developers Jack Spound and Johnson Wax Development Co. took the city to court in 1990 after the city rejected their request for the property’s zoning to be changed from agriculture to commercial. The city responded by zoning the site for residential use. Superior Court judges ruled in favor of Spound, and an appeals court upheld the decision.
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