By Bob Blumenfield
Because so many of us are extremely, and appropriately worried about the proposal for development at the Woodland Hills Country Club, I am writing to provide an update – even though there are still many more questions than answers.
Right now, City Planning has paused the developer’s application to build hundreds of single-family and multi-family homes at the highly sensitive site of the Woodland Hills Country Club (WHCC). While this pause is welcomed news, it is very much a temporary pause.
As you know, there has been a lot of recent attention on new state laws that took away local control over certain land use policies, and we are seeing the unintended consequences of these laws playing out in our West Valley community. This massive housing proposal at the WHCC would have traditionally gone through many steps in order to be approved, including CEQA review and the Council’s Planning and Land Use Committee, which I chair. Had the proposal been made three months ago before the new state laws were adopted, it would have.
Typically community questions would be discussed at various required community and public meetings. However, with the signing of AB 2243 and AB 893 in October, bills which expanded the definition of what a commercial corridor is, this is not the case anymore as the state made certain types of housing construction ministerial even if the uses along a corridor are not actually commercial uses. That means without public scrutiny or review, making this large development on a single-family street a “by-right” project.
While the proposal is still very much alive, City Planning deemed the application incomplete and temporarily paused the application because the developer did not submit all required documents. I imagine they are preparing all documents to re-submit in order to be in accordance with the new state regulations as well as the few local standards they still have to meet.
My staff and I are working on using all tools left in the City’s hands to help pause this dangerous proposal. I’m grateful that the board of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy has voiced their serious concerns about the environmental threats this project poses. Also, Senator Henry Stern has authored a letter that addresses how state laws severely limit the ability for the city to ensure proper environmental reviews or community input and has voiced his desire to partner on addressing the unintended consequences of these bills.
I have introduced local legislation directing the Planning Department and City Attorney to give us further clarity of how these laws are impacting our local control over development in the newly defined “commercial corridors” and specifically whether or not there is any legal way for the city to exert discretion over this proposal. My motion passed the Planning Committee and I am working on getting it scheduled for a full City Council vote.
Outside of new state legislation that would have to be passed at lightning speed, this project will still move forward ministerially once these documents are submitted. The City’s role will be to determine compliance and completeness, and my role to evaluate proposals with the community’s input has been eliminated. It remains absurd that this level of development can be allowed by-right in a high fire severity zone with no CEQA review and zero input from the community or local government. If state officials don’t amend these laws, it is only a matter of time that these sorts of developments get proposed and instantly approved in sensitive use areas throughout the state.
As more clarity and information become available, I will continue to share updates. Also, you can contact my Planning Director Elizabeth Ene at elizabeth.ene@lacity.org with any questions or concerns about this location and proposal.
