STUDIO CITY : Links May Become Fire Station Site

A one-acre section of the Studio City Golf Course might be taken by the city as part of the site for an expanded fire station to replace one destroyed by the Northridge earthquake.

Capt. Louis Roupoli, head of the Los Angeles Fire Department’s building administration section, said the department considers the golf course land bordering Whitsett Avenue as an ideal addition to the lot where the old station stood before being demolished in August.

The combined parcels of property would accommodate a larger facility than the old 4,700-square-foot station, built in 1943.

The golf course land is owned by Weddington Investment Partnership, which has offered to donate the parcel to the city, Roupoli said. But it can’t make the donation because of a lease dispute with its tenant, the operators of the golf course.

To get the land in a timely manner, Roupoli said, the city might take legal action to condemn it.

“The Fire Department is going to make a decision real soon on what to do,” Roupoli said.

In a related development Tuesday, the City Council decided to allocate $408,000 to establish a temporary fire station on the old lot until a new station can be built.

Since the earthquake, the station’s crew has been operating out of a neighboring station, resulting in longer response times to fires in the area it serves.

The temporary fire station will include four trailers outfitted with dorm and shower facilities, and a shed that will house the fire engine.

In other matters Tuesday, the City Council approved a conditional use permit for a cellular telephone company to erect a 10-foot-tall antenna atop a 42-foot office building at 17547 Ventura Blvd. Airtouch Cellular received a variance from the zoning code, which limits buildings in the area to 45 feet.