City Seeks Reversal on Warner Center Plan

The city of Los Angeles has asked the state Supreme Court to overturn an appellate court ruling that the Warner Center Specific Plan does not adequately address the impacts of development on area schools and should be invalidated.

Robert H. Sutton, the city’s deputy director of planning, said the city chose to appeal the court’s decision because the judge threw out the entire plan, rather than eliminating only those sections that affect schools within the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The school district sought mitigation measures, including air conditioners, for Canoga Park High School and Parkman Middle School--two local schools within the specific plan boundaries.

Although a Superior Court had originally ruled in the city’s favor, a state appellate court recently ruled against the city. While the case winds its way through the appeals process, the specific plan is still valid.

Meanwhile, the city is working to create an interim control ordinance that would guide development in the area--bounded by Vanowen Street, the Ventura Freeway, De Soto Avenue and Topanga Canyon Boulevard in Woodland Hills--if the plan is ultimately invalidated.