City Council Reluctantly OKs Development in Canyon

A reluctant Los Angeles City Council approved a 34-home development in La Tuna Canyon’s scenic hills Friday after city lawyers said a 1993 lawsuit settlement requires the city to either approve the project or allow even more homes to be built on the site.

The 10-1 vote was intended to end a 12-year dispute in the quiet rural community. But neighbors immediately said they would sue to halt the development.

“I think they made an agreement to agree on how to vote, and I don’t think they can do that,” said Jerry Neuman, an attorney for several La Tuna Canyon residents.

But if the council had rejected the 34-home development, its lawyers said, the developer could have built 50 homes under a permit approved prior to the settlement. Neither project would be legal under current zoning laws.

In 1985, the city approved a 50-home development on 52 uninhabited acres north of La Tuna Canyon Road. Five years later, the City Council changed the site’s zoning to allow fewer than 10 homes. The developer sued. The case was settled when the builder agreed to scale down the project to 34 homes and the city agreed to “initiate and consider” the new development.