Planners Approve 147-Home Project

The city Planning Commission approved the construction of 147 luxury homes in Dayton Canyon on Thursday, a development that also preserves 275 acres of open space in the Santa Monica Mountains.

No one testified against the proposal by SunCal Cos., an Anaheim-based developer that agreed to modify parts of its project to satisfy environmental groups and residents.

The changes included adding public hiking and equestrian trails, preserving a wildlife corridor through the area, and scaling back the height of some planned homes to maintain hillside views.

SunCal also slimmed the subdivision down from the 175 homes originally proposed, said Bill Rattazzi, a principal of the company.

“We’re trying to build a project that is going to fit in with the community that’s there now,” Rattazzi said.

The plan involves 365 acres, extending west from Valley Circle Boulevard near Roscoe Boulevard to the Ventura County line. The homes would be built on a 65-acre parcel to the north and west of Roscoe-Valley Circle Park.

About 1.4 million cubic years of earth and 74 oak trees would be uprooted during construction, Rattazzi said. The development, which would be built near a stream in a rural hillside area, would leave more than 660 oaks untouched.

The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, a state agency that would acquire the project’s open space as a donation, supported the development on several conditions, such as the requirement that the builder provide $10,000 a year to maintain the open land. Paul Edelman, the conservancy’s natural resources director, praised the compromise.

“The odds of there being public money to buy the whole thing out isn’t that high,” Edelman said. “The ratio of open space to development is so favorable that it was a good [project] to work with the developer on.”

The project still needs approval by the City Council. It will probably reach the council’s Planning and Land Use Committee by April, city planners said.