Panel Backs Plan to Save Ridgelines

Los Angeles County’s Regional Planning Commission gave tentative approval Wednesday to a controversial plan to limit development and preserve scenic ridgelines in the Santa Monica Mountains.

The proposed ordinance was referred to the commission’s staff for minor modifications, according to regional planner Dave Cowardin. He said final approval was expected when the commission reconsidered the modified proposal in about three weeks.

The measure would then be submitted to the Board of Supervisors.

The ordinance would establish guidelines for grading land and ridgelines under the North Area Plan approved by the supervisors in 2000.

The measure would require property owners who want to remove more than 5,000 cubic yards or grade more than 15,000 square feet of land to first obtain a conditional-use permit. The ordinance would also keep structures at least 50 vertical feet and 50 horizontal feet from “significant ridgelines.”

Some property owners complain that the plan would devalue land and force homeowners to pay more than $40,000 for permits to add bedrooms, stables, pools or tennis courts.

But the staff of county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who helped draft the measure, says that other homeowners support the plan and applaud the county’s commitment to preservation.