GRANADA HILLS : Developer Handed 2nd Setback on Plan

Citing earthquake danger, the Los Angeles City Planning Commission has handed a second setback to a developer who proposed a supermarket, day-care center and office building on an 11-acre site at 17900 Sesnon Blvd.--the remaining portion of a ranch once owned by James Cagney that now is mostly subdivisions.

The commission Thursday granted an appeal by Homeowners of Upper Granada Hills of a tract map for the site--a second blow to the developer, who will now appeal both decisions to the City Council, said Peter Gelblum, attorney for the developer, the Richard J. Mazurek Living Trust. The commission last month rejected a proposed zone change on the same property.

The homeowners have opposed the project on the grounds that it would bring traffic and crime into the area.

The four commissioners in attendance--Ted Stein, Suzette Neiman, David Louie and Valeria Velasco--voted unanimously that an earthquake fault running through the property made the proposed development hazardous, said John Parker, city deputy advisory agency on the case.

Gelblum called the ruling “an absolute sham,” adding that the plans for the development, approved by city planning staff, included a 50-foot setback on either side of the fault.

Walter Prince, land-use chairman for the West Valley-based homeowners’ group PRIDE, who attended the hearing on behalf of Granada Hills homeowners, predicted that the project is well on its way to being scuttled.

“I think we are pretty secure unless the city gets chicken and gives in to the developer,” he said.

Gelblum said the ruling is inconsistent with a 1974 district plan of the area that designates the area for commercial development.