L.A. Planning Panel OKs Fox Studio Project : Land use: Promise of new jobs tips balance in favor of $200-million expansion. Further approval is needed.

The Los Angeles Planning Commission gave its blessing Thursday to Fox Studio’s planned $200-million expansion, clearing a key hurdle for the controversial project.

In a 4-0 vote, with one member absent, the commission sided with Fox officials in concluding that Los Angeles cannot afford to miss out on the new jobs that renovation of the venerable Century City studio would bring.

“I don’t think you can underestimate (the studio’s) importance to the city’s economy,” Commissioner Fernando Torres-Gil said.

Fox officials contend that the studio’s plans to add 771,000 square feet of office and production space will mean 1,600 new jobs.

The studio, owned by media baron Rupert Murdoch, wants to consolidate its movie and television operations, including 20th Century Fox Film Corp. and KTTV-TV--now located in Hollywood--at the same 53-acre parcel, creating a 1.9-million-square-foot facility.

Fox needs the city’s approval to pursue the plan and to extricate itself from a commitment to build condominiums on part of the property.

The project still faces scrutiny by the City Council’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee and must ultimately be approved by the full council.

On Thursday, opponents--including neighbors of the studio--renewed their argument that the project is too big, saying that the added traffic it would generate would inundate neighborhoods that are already congested .

Under the plan recommended by the commission, traffic flowing from the studio’s gates would more than double.

In rejecting several recommendations from its own staff to scale down the project, the commission expressed concern for protecting jobs in an anemic economy.

The jobs argument got an unusual boost when an aide read a letter to Mayor Tom Bradley urging swift approval. The letter was co-signed by Gov. Pete Wilson and two of his chief political rivals, Assembly Speaker Willie Brown and state Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti, both Democrats.

“At a time when California is reeling from the prolonged recession, defense cuts, and a poor image as a place to do business, supporting the Fox expansion is a top priority,” the letter said.

That drew an angry response from opponents of the Fox plan.

“(They) should stay out of the Fox issue,” said Sandy Brown, president of the Westside Civic Federation.

Another opponent, Laura Lake, who is trying to unseat Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky in the 5th District, accused the three politicians of “alarmist, hysterical rhetoric,” adding, “this is really the tail wagging the dog.”

“Eighty percent of Fox’s employees are temporary hires from other studios,” she said. “Fox is more dependent on workers than workers are on Fox.”

Yaroslavsky, who represents the area, supports the expansion provided that surrounding neighborhoods are protected from excess traffic and other detrimental effects.

But the councilman expressed frustration Thursday with Fox’s reluctance to make compromises and with the commission’s eagerness to accommodate the studio.