SYLMAR : Equestrian Enclave’s Residents Fight Plan

Residents in one of the city’s last equestrian enclaves are fighting a proposal to put a residential development on a five-acre patch of rurally zoned land near horse barns and trails.

About 70 homeowners have signed a petition against developer Mark Armbruster’s plan to construct 36 residences on Dronfield Avenue between Taylor and Bledsoe streets.

A public hearing on whether to change the parcel’s zoning to allow the plan to move forward is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. today before a Los Angeles Planning Commission hearing officer at the Van Nuys Woman’s Club on Sylvan Street. Another Armbruster proposal--to build an 86-unit condominium complex on Foothill Boulevard nearby--will be discussed at 10 a.m.

City planning officials list the Dronfield Avenue proposal as “multiple residential units,” but Armbruster said Monday that he’ll build single-family detached houses.

Either way, residents say it is the first step toward driving horse owners out of the neighborhood and shattering the rural flavor of their community.

“We just want to keep Sylmar rural, at least to some extent,” said Harley Booton, a horse owner spearheading opposition to the Dronfield Avenue proposal. “We’re not against development, if they want to build it under current zoning.”

Current zoning allows single-family residences, but on larger plots than Armbruster plans. Changing the zoning to suit his proposal--even if he just plans to build houses--could lead to development of condominiums, because the zoning for condos is the same as that for higher-density single-family homes, said city planning assistant Jon Foreman.

Armbruster or a subsequent buyer could erect condominiums if the zoning change is approved, he said.

“This is not condos,” countered Armbruster, partner of Armbruster/Adler Development Corp. “The city describes that incorrectly. It is 36 single-family detached homes.”

Armbruster’s larger proposal has garnered far less opposition, with only one homeowner filing a protest. The 84-unit plan would be on the former site of Cacho’s Nursery on Foothill Boulevard.