Opposition to Teacher Housing at Chatsworth Reservoir Prompts Denial

A proposal to develop a housing tract for teachers on the city-owned Chatsworth Reservoir brought vigorous opposition Tuesday from City Councilman Hal Bernson and local homeowner activists--and denials from the mayor’s office that the site was being seriously considered.

Bernson said it would be “moronic” for anyone to believe that he or the community would tolerate a disruption of the reservoir, a 1,200-acre dry lake bed now serving as a wildlife refuge.

“Hiking and bird-watching--those are the only kinds of things that should be permitted there,” Bernson said.

The Times, quoting City Hall sources, reported last Saturday that the Bradley Administration was considering a plan to build up to 5,000 units of low- to moderate-cost housing at the reservoir as a way to induce teachers to work in Los Angeles.

“There goes Bradley again--the mayor has been totally insensitive to the needs of the Valley in the past,” said Rita Seashore, vice president of the Oak Lake Assn., a group that represents 200 homeowners who reside south of the reservoir.

“For the mayor to be even considering this . . . is absolutely absurd,” said Jan Hinkston, a founder of the Santa Susana Mountain Park Assn. “Somebody’s off their rocker.”

The Chatsworth site, owned by the city Department of Water and Power and located in the West San Fernando Valley, was used as a reservoir from the 1930s until the early 1970s. It has been empty since being damaged in the 1971 Sylmar earthquake. The site now provides sanctuary for wildlife, primarily for birds, including Canada geese.

Deputy Mayor Mark Fabiani denied Tuesday that Bradley’s office has seriously considered faculty housing for the reservoir. And the mayor sent a two-page letter to Bernson assuring the councilman that there “was no basis for the news media . . . to suggest that the Chatsworth Reservoir site has been targeted” for development.

In his letter, Bradley wrote that no plan to develop the reservoir would “ever have been seriously considered and finalized without the cooperation and involvement of your office and interested community groups.”

Before a development site could be considered, it first must be determined if it would be worthwhile public policy for the city to provide housing incentives as a way to lure teachers to jobs in Los Angeles, Fabiani said in an interview Tuesday. That threshold decision has not been made yet by the mayor’s office, the deputy mayor said.

But last week in an interview, Fabiani, in acknowledging that preliminary plans were being prepared to have the city promote faculty housing, called the Chatsworth Reservoir “the primary site we’ve focused on so far.” He said he intended to meet with Bernson and local community groups about this interest. “That’s the land that’s under consideration,” he added.

A City Hall source, who asked for anonymity, said Art Gastelum, director of the mayor’s Office of Economic Development, said the development of faculty housing at the reservoir was one of his top priorities.

Gastelum, who is also the mayor’s liaison to the DWP, made the remarks to the Office of Economic Development staff in early January, shortly after Bradley appointed him to head that unit, the source said.

Another of Gastelum’s official assignments has been to explore ways to help local schools and universities attract top faculty to Los Angeles. One of the difficulties facing teacher recruiters has been the area’s high housing costs.

Gastelum did not return phone calls.

Fabiani said Gastelum “originated the idea of teacher incentives, like housing” within the Bradley Administration.

“But the fact that that one site may have been mentioned by a single member of the mayor’s staff does not a proposal make,” Fabiani said.

Times staff writer Gabe Fuentes contributed to this story.