Fans, Foes of Office Project Pack Hearing : Battle of the Ballfields Heating Up

After six months of trying to muster neighborhood support for a proposed office complex on some Northridge baseball fields, an Encino developer brought a large group of green-clad supporters to a public hearing Tuesday. But the opposition also turned out in force.

The divided crowd of 150 was a marked change from a hearing in November, when an opposition group called the North Valley Homeowners Federation far outnumbered those in favor of the proposed seven-building, 250,000-square-foot Evergreen Park office project at Devonshire Street and Wilbur Avenue.

Representatives of ASL Financial, which proposed the project, and the Dolphin Group, a political consulting firm that ASL hired to woo the neighborhood, said after Tuesday’s hearing that the show of support means that the opposing homeowners are losing ground.

Homeowner leaders, however, said ASL’s six-month public relations campaign is proof that it is the developer who is on the defensive.

“They’re definitely losing some of the wind out of their sails,” Fred Karger, executive vice president of the Dolphin Group, said of the homeowners.

John Dowell, president of the homeowners federation, said ASL “felt compelled to get a public relations campaign going.” He added: “It is a recognition of the fact that they were in trouble.”

24-Page Pamphlet

Dowell’s group responded to the campaign Tuesday with a 24-page pamphlet that includes maps, photographs and copies of letters of support from state Sen. Ed Davis (R-Valencia), Assemblywoman Marian W. La Follette (R-Northridge) and Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich.

Tuesday’s hearing was before a Los Angeles Planning Department hearing examiner, who is expected to make a recommendation in the next two months. The Planning Commission is scheduled to consider the proposal June 22.

Supporters of the 24-acre office project include the Northridge Chamber of Commerce.

Many at the hearing were wearing green clothing and lapel buttons bearing the slogan: “We love Evergreen Park and Northridge Little League.” The league, run by the Northridge Baseball Assn., is the focus of much of the dispute.

ASL maintains that its plan to relocate some of the seven baseball diamonds, erect buildings on the property and pump $1 million in improvements into the fields will guarantee that the Little League can continue on the site.

The homeowners, who want to see houses on the land, disagree. They point to a 1987 agreement that requires ASL to give the Little League fields to the city for park purposes before any structure on the 24 acres can be occupied.

No Guarantee

But ASL says if it built houses and gave the fields to the city, there is no guarantee that the city would let the Little League stay if neighboring residents object.

City Councilman Hal Bernson, who represents the area, did not present a statement Tuesday because he is awaiting an opinion on whether the city’s agreement with ASL is legally enforceable, said his chief deputy, Greig Smith. Bernson said in a recent interview that he supports houses for the site but would consider offices if they are the only way to save the baseball fields.

City Hearing Examiner Marc Woersching said the Little League question is relevant, but is not as important as the proposed project’s proximity to houses and its effect on traffic.

“The key issue is whether it’s good planning,” Woersching said.