Developer defends his plan for Las Lomas

The developer of a housing project proposed for the northern rim of the San Fernando Valley shot back Friday at criticism leveled earlier this week by City Councilman Greig Smith.

Smith had sent a letter to every neighborhood council in the Valley, asking them to oppose Las Lomas, which is proposed for land outside the city limits near the 5 and 14 freeways and could have as many as 5,500 units. Smith said the project would have a negative effect on the entire Valley.

In his own letter dispatched to neighborhood councils on Friday, developer Dan Palmer said that Smith inaccurately described the project, which he said bears no resemblance to the “mythical project” Smith wrote about. Palmer said he would present the real plan within the next two months.