Tarzana Offices’ Fate Up to Council

The Los Angeles City Planning Commission failed to reach a consensus Thursday on a developer’s proposal to build two medical office buildings next to the Medical Center of Tarzana.

Commissioners sent the plan to the City Council without a recommendation.

The project has sparked strong opposition from the Tarzana Property Owners Assn., the Tarzana Chamber of Commerce and Marvin Braude, the area’s city councilman. Critics argue that development in Tarzana’s “superblock”--the area bounded by Ventura, Burbank and Reseda boulevards and Etiwanda Avenue--is out of control.

“When our forefathers and foremothers planned the city, they created a disaster along Ventura Boulevard,” Braude told the commission, meeting in Van Nuys. “One of the areas of concern is certainly this parcel of land.”

Developer’s Request

The developer, Ernest Goldenfeld of West Los Angeles, had applied for a zone change to permit construction of six-story and three-story towers, totaling 225,000 square feet, and a 1,125-space subterranean garage at Burbank and Reseda boulevards.

The Planning Department staff had recommended to the commission that the project be reduced to 168,000 square feet to lessen the traffic burden. Braude urged the commission to go even further by slashing the permitted project size to 112,000 square feet.

Two commissioners sided with the Planning Department, one favored Braude’s position, and a fourth voted to allow about 140,000 square feet. A fifth commissioner was absent for the vote.

The result was that the building proposal was forwarded to the City Council for consideration without a recommendation and will require eight votes for council approval, instead of the 10 generally needed to override a commission decision. The project is expected to go before a council committee within the next two weeks.

Objections Voiced

Tarzana homeowners and businessmen have objected to the project, contending that too much development already is taking place in the area.

Within the 12-acre superblock--so named because it was targeted for high-density development by the area’s community plan--two other office buildings are planned, and the hospital has received city approval to expand, adding 146 beds, city records show.

Braude is seeking a building moratorium along Ventura Boulevard in Encino, Sherman Oaks and the superblock of Tarzana until solutions can be found for traffic problems.

But Encino attorney Benjamin Reznik, representing developer Goldenfeld, said the site is ideal for a medical office building because of its proximity to the hospital. He said a survey of physicians in the area demonstrated the need for it.

If the project were to be built elsewhere, Reznik said, even more traffic would be generated by vehicles traveling between the hospital and the medical building.