CHATSWORTH : Group Questions Housing Tract Plans

A Porter Ranch-based homeowners group has questioned plans for a large cluster of housing tracts submitted as part of the giant 1,230-acre Porter Ranch Development Co. project, contending that needed traffic mitigations may have been overlooked.

Four proposed tract maps for about 875 new housing lots in Porter Ranch will be considered by the Los Angeles City Deputy Advisory Agency on Wednesday.

Members of PRIDE, a homeowners group that has appointed itself watchdog for the project, have criticized the plans because they were submitted without traffic studies. Members say the studies are needed so the city can set requirements for roads and signal improvements to offset increased traffic.

The impact on traffic of more than 3,000 proposed dwellings and a 6-million-square-foot commercial complex was the main sticking point with homeowners when the Porter Ranch project was approved three years ago.

Tom Stemnock, civil engineer for Porter Ranch Development Co., said he expects that the agency will postpone action until the traffic studies are ready and said the firm is not trying to get out of anything. The studies have been tied up by the bureaucracy, he said.

PRIDE Secretary-Treasurer Don Worsham said he is concerned that without public scrutiny of traffic impact, traffic improvements may “happen too late or not at all.”

Frank Quon, city planning associate, said city officials can’t legally force Porter Ranch to submit the study before the hearing, but would prefer to review the document before approving the tract. Quon said Porter Ranch had been “sluggish” and had not completed the study in time.

Stemnock said that although the firm is seeking approvals to build now, it’s doubtful that any new homes will be built for five to 10 years. The developer is waiting for “whenever there is a market; right now we are not building anything,” he said.

The hearing begins at 9:30 a.m. in Room 561A, 5th Floor, City Hall, 200 N. Spring St.