City Planning Commission Feb. 24 Decision On Whitebird Canyon Hills
By Canyon Area Preservation

The City Planning Commission’s February 24 decision regarding Whitebird Inc.’s development proposal is a mixed bag of contradictory legal positions that will only serve to confuse and divide the community and the developer. Lawsuits can be expected on both sides – from the developer because they didn’t get everything they wanted, and from the community because the decision failed to uphold the laws governing hillside development.

The decision granted the developer their primary goal, a General Plan Amendment to change the land use designation on parts of their property from Minimum Residential to Low Residential, thereby negating the Slope Density Ordinance that limited the number of homes that would be allowed according to a clear formula. The number of homes they will be allowed to build was set at 230 instead of the 280 requested. Both numbers are far greater than what the Slope Density Ordinance dictates.

The Planning Commission also prohibited any grading and construction on the south side of the 210 Freeway in what is recognized as an important wildlife corridor linking the Verdugo Mountains with the Tujunga Wash and San Gabriel Mountains. This was a major goal of the community’s.

The developer is expected to challenge the decision because it didn’t get the number of homes it wanted and because it wants to build homes on the hill south of the 210. Whitebird’s lawyer brought up the "takings" issue during the deliberations.

Several community groups have indicated they may file a lawsuit because the Planning Commission ignored the Slope Density Ordinance, a City-wide land use law passed in 1987 and reaffirmed in 1997.

Canyon Hills will now go to the City’s Planning and Land Use Management committee sometime in early spring where it must gain the approval of its three members - Councilmembers Ed Reyes of CD1, Jack Weiss of CD5, and Tony Cardenas of CD 6. From there it goes to the full City Council for final approval.

Canyon Area Preservation (CAP) and many other community groups are expected to continue to press their grassroots fight against Canyon Hills. CAP has been raising money for the past year to pay for a land use attorney who will file the necessary motions to keep the decision from becoming final. CAP can be reached at CAPViews@comcast.net or 818-352-5818.