Sunland-Tujunga : Blueprint OKd for Growth on Boulevard

In a step taken with little fanfare but nonetheless significant for Sunland-Tujunga residents, a Los Angeles City Council committee on Tuesday approved a blueprint for growth along Foothill Boulevard.

The Planning and Land Use Management Committee approved the Foothill Boulevard Corridor Specific Plan, a plan to attract higher-quality businesses to the boulevard and to restrict new apartment buildings to a few specified areas. The committee vote was the final step before consideration by the full council, which is scheduled to consider the plan Sept. 5.

“I’m sure the community will be glad to hear that this plan was approved today,” said R. Nicolas Brown, the city planner who helped shepherd it through the city’s bureaucracy for the past six years.

The proposed plan calls for the creation of four commercial areas that would be revitalized and four areas where apartment buildings, condominiums and mixed-use structures would be permitted. The zoning rules and height limits of the proposal would apply to a 4.2-mile stretch of Foothill Boulevard, roughly between Sunland Boulevard and Lowell Avenue.

Under the plan, the city could require developers of apartment buildings to widen streets, build sidewalks, create additional parking and complete other public improvements before anyone could move in. Apartment developers now are not subject to such conditions.

The four business revitalization areas include: the area southwest of Foothill and Fenwick Street, properties southwest of Foothill and Woodward Avenue, the area around Foothill and Commerce Avenue, and land south of Foothill and west of Lowell Avenue.

The areas where apartments will be permitted include: the area around Foothill and Whitegate Avenue, land around Foothill and Mt. Gleason Avenue, along Foothill between McClemont Avenue and Commerce, and along Foothill roughly between Pinewood Avenue and Tujunga Canyon.