Planners Deadlock on Reseda Boulevard Extension Question : Development: The commission debates altering a city requirement. At issue is whether the street should be extended into Topanga State Park.

Planning commissioners deadlocked Thursday on whether they should alter a city requirement to match state law banning the extension of Reseda Boulevard.

A developer, Harlan Lee & Associates, had asked the city to modify the conditions it set more than a decade ago to reflect changes in state law. The city had required Harlan Lee to extend and pave Reseda Boulevard in return for approval of a 178-house project near a park.

But 1991 legislation written by Assemblyman Terry B. Friedman (D-Brentwood) authorized state parks officials to restrict the extension of Reseda Boulevard if they determined it would negatively affect Topanga State Park--which they did. State parks officials determined that the road should not be built because it would destabilize mountain slopes, create fire hazards and promote developments.

The developer has complained that his prospective lot purchasers can’t get building permits because he technically hasn’t met all city requirements--requirements that he can’t meet because of the state law.

“We feel we’ve been caught in the middle,” said Jeff Lee, vice president of Harlan Lee & Associates.

The complex issue sparked debate Thursday on extending the boulevard into Topanga State Park as far as Mulholland Highway, with scores of people arguing the pros and cons.

Proponents said the extension would ease traffic by providing an alternate route for commuters who now avoid freeways and drive through Encino neighborhoods between the Valley and the Westside. “It’s critical to provide access to the 405 Freeway for traffic circulation in the San Fernando Valley,” said Madeline DeAntonio of Encino.

Environmentalists and other community groups argued that the road would destroy precious resources and damage the park. “The public policy would best be served by stopping this road extension once and for all,” said Susan Genelin of the Sierra Club.

The Reseda Boulevard extension issue has aroused community passions to such a level that fistfights once broke out between Encino and Tarzana groups, and neighborhood activists once chained themselves to bulldozers to stop construction.

As part of the state law that banned Reseda Boulevard from being extended, Harlan Lee & Associates was required to give the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission money the developer saved by not building the road. The money was to be used for traffic improvements in the Valley. Some interpret the law to mean that if the developer failed to turn over the savings, the extension should be built.

One of the primary questions at Thursday’s hearing was whether Harlan Lee & Associates had saved any money.

The city estimated it would have cost the developer $370,000 to build the road according to blueprints submitted to the Planning Department. Representatives for Harlan Lee & Associates said $745,044 was spent to make improvements mandated by state parks officials. Therefore, the developer did not save anything, they said.

Commission President Theodore Stein Jr. and Commissioner David W. Louie voted in favor of changing the conditions to follow state law.

But Commissioner Suzette Neiman said she could not vote in favor of the change because of a Municipal Code that she believes protects the original conditions of the city’s agreement with the developer.

She and Commissioner Lydia H. Kennard voted against the change.

The matter will be appealed to the City Council, state parks officials said.