Universal Expansion Plans

* The Times editorial, “2 Studio Expansion Plans Receive Opposite Reactions,” is slanted to make it seem as though a few whining, sniveling folks in [Universal Studios’] neighborhood are fearful of what Universal’s undefined, mystery monster project may do to them.

The neighborhood encompasses more than 10,000 members of homeowners associations that circle Universal and stretch from Sherman Oaks to Hollywood. These people have lived under Universal’s tyranny for years and have come to view them as the neighbors from hell! Under Seagram Co. ownership they’ve gotten increasingly worse.

They are never responsive, ever upping noise levels, doing nothing to stop increasing crime on our streets caused by their facility, attracting murder and mayhem (while playing the hush, hush game with the press), snarling freeways and generally destroying the environment for miles.

Universal/Seagram’s draconian dream will not only devastate the 10,000 residents who surround them, it will disrupt tens of thousands more, daily, on both sides of the Cahuenga Pass due to the gridlock the project will cause in the pass.

Universal/Seagram’s specific plan doesn’t truly lay out anything they intend to do. Rather, it asks us, as well as the city and county, to trust them to do the right thing, unbridled, for 25 years.

The regional infrastructure has to be totally recast before the project, or any portion of it, should even be considered.

We have every right to be concerned--and every right to be fully protected by our elected officials. The homeowners groups are communicating with one another and are becoming a major, organized political force. They are also taking on the characteristics of a class that could very well wield a good deal of legal clout.

DEAN KAY

Burbank

* Re “Residents, City Officials Weigh Merits of Studios’ Expansion Plans,” March 11.

In all of the rhetoric swirling around Universal’s development plan, we must not lose sight of the fact that for the first time there is a comprehensive master plan establishing guidance and constraints on development of the property.

Neighbors of Universal should take comfort in the fact that a well-thought-out development plan gives protection to the community. Simply stated, there will be no surprises. Instead, we will have knowledge of what can and cannot be developed on the property.

PHIL HALSTEAD

Studio City

* I support the plan for Universal City. Traffic will be managed as well as other issues that people seem, rightly or wrongly, concerned about. As the process continues, we should remember what a fabulous resource Universal City is to Los Angeles--not only as an economic engine to stoke our economy but a place of filmmaking history and family fun that provides the Valley with a special, exciting identity no other community in the nation can claim.

DENISE ANTHONY

Los Angeles