Woodland Hills Residents Clash Over Warner Ridge High-Rises

Woodland Hills residents clashed Thursday night over whether a $150-million high-rise project should be built on a 22-acre ridge next to their houses.

Nearly 400 homeowners filled Parkman Junior High School auditorium to debate plans for a proposed nine-building Warner Ridge office complex on the northeast corner of De Soto Avenue and Oxnard Street.

Residents alternately praised the development plan and condemned it as Los Angeles city planning officials began a review of an environmental-impact report for the proposed project.

Officials said several more public hearings on zone changes and development applications for the project will be staged before City Council members eventually vote on the controversial project in about nine months.

The majority of the crowd agreed with 20-year resident Sy Spalter, who told hearing officer Al Landini that the office project would be “a precedent that will encourage” other high-rise development outside the core of nearby Warner Center. “It doesn’t fit my perception of proper planning,” Spalter said to the cheers of the audience.

But the development was supported by 13-year resident Tom Friedman. “Warner Ridge will make a positive impact on Carlton Terrace,” Friedman said, referring to the nearby neighborhood.

Thursday night’s environmental hearing was the latest in a series of clashes between supporters and opponents of the office building project.

Foes have been on the offensive for nearly two years, arguing that the development would be out of place next to their long-established neighborhood of single-family homes.

But its advocates have contended that the project would enhance the neighborhood and buffer it from the remainder of the Warner Center industrial area.

Both sides have waged separate mailer campaigns aimed at rallying residents of the 1,300-home Carlton Terrace section of Woodland Hills.

Leaders of the Woodland Hills Homeowners Organization, who oppose the high-rises, have demanded that city officials restrict development of Warner Ridge to single-family houses.

The homeowner group contends that construction of office buildings on the ridge would signal the first expansion of Warner Center from its long-established boundaries--marked on the east by DeSoto Avenue.

Once the DeSoto barrier is crossed, pressure would be increased on the Los Angeles Community College District to sell the nearby Pierce College farm for development, the homeowner group has charged.

Project opponents also have complained of the appearance of the high-rises next to their homes and of the impact that traffic from the project might have on their neighborhoods.

Those charges were denied by leaders of Concerned Carlton Terrace Residents, a group of homeowners who endorse the project.

Leaders of that group contend that the project site lies within the true geographical boundary of Warner Center. They argue that commercial use of the ridge would relieve pressure on the agricultural area at Pierce College since there would be no homeowners there to complain of farm odors or flies.

The supporters say berms and landscaping would effectively shield the high-rises from the view of homeowners and the college. They also contend that the project’s driveway design would prevent cars from pulling into the next-door neighborhood.

Project co-developer Jack Spound has steadfastly rejected suggestions that he build homes on the ridge. He said there would be no market for expensive luxury homes overlooking Warner Center’s industrial rooftops.

City officials said 58 people signed up to testify at Thursday night’s hearing. They said that written testimony on the environmental impact report will accepted until July 21.