Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission

The Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission elected Sadie B. Clark as chairwoman for 1991. Clark has the most tenure on the commission, having served since her appointment in 1975 by Supervisor Kenneth Hahn. The commission establishes land use planning policy for Los Angeles County and acts on local subdivision and zoning issues in the unincorporated areas. Each county supervisor appoints one member to the commission.

Los Angeles County's latest plan to limit development and preserve scenic ridgelines in the Santa Monica Mountains has kicked up opposition from some property owners living on the rugged slopes. In slick mailers sent to thousands of mountain residents, they warn that the proposed ordinance, now under consideration by the county's Regional Planning Commission, could devalue land and force homeowners to pay more than $40,000 for permits to add bedrooms, stables, pools or tennis courts.

A 539-unit residential development in Newhall was unanimously approved Monday by the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission. The project by CJB Development Inc., situated between Haskell Canyon Road and Bouquet Canyon Road, also includes five acres of commercial zoning. It is on only 167 acres, which means that some lots are smaller than county regulations usually require.

After almost a decade of delays, a judge Wednesday ordered the L.A. County Regional Planning Commission to decide by Oct. 31 whether the developer of Ahmanson Ranch can remove 10 oak trees along a critical access route to its project site. A removal permit was initially granted to the developer in 1993, but opponents of the 3,050-home mini-city filed an appeal the following year. Since then, the planning commission has taken the matter off its calendar 15 times. Washington Mutual Inc.

The Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission on Wednesday rejected a developer's proposal to build 272 homes in the oak- and scrub brush-covered foothills of Altadena. The commission's 3-2 vote opposing the controversial La Vina subdivision startled both supporters and opponents of the project, because the commission had given conceptual approval to the plan a little more than two years ago.

A longtime teacher and Calabasas area community activist was nominated Wednesday to the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission. Harold "Hal" Helsley, who has lived in the Cold Creek community in the Santa Monica Mountains for 30 years, was named as Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky's choice for the commission. His nomination is subject to review by the county Board of Supervisors, which is scheduled to vote on it next week.

The zoning changes necessary to build the mammoth Newhall Ranch development in the Santa Clarita Valley won unanimous approval Wednesday from the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission. The vote came after 14 months of rancorous public hearings on the project, which will cover 19 square miles and house 70,000 people between the Golden State Freeway and the Ventura County border. The decision must now be approved by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

Citing the potential negative impact on air quality and visual blight, the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission took the first step Wednesday toward rejecting a proposed mining operation. "What it boils down to is the quality of life for 250,000 people or the materials the project could produce," said Commissioner George Pederson, who represents the Santa Clarita Valley. "I happen to lean in the direction of quality of life."

A county plan to reduce building density and ease traffic along the Ventura Freeway corridor will be discussed todayat a public workshop sponsored by the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission. The Ventura Freeway Corridor Areawide Plan will affect the allowable uses of many properties within the unincorporated area, according to the Department of Regional Planning.

The Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission heard several proposed alterations to the Universal Studios expansion plan, including one that changes a land-use designation to further restrict sites that can be developed for entertainment. The commission did not take action on the items discussed--which included height restrictions, as well as permitted and prohibited uses--but continued the discussion to Feb. 11.

A longtime teacher and Calabasas-area community activist has been nominated to the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission. Harold "Hal" Helsley, who has lived in the Cold Creek community in the Santa Monica Mountains for 30 years, was named Wednesday as Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky's choice for the commission. His nomination is subject to review by the county Board of Supervisors, which is scheduled to vote on it next week.

Seeking to preserve some of the area's most important natural features, Los Angeles County planning officials voted Wednesday to update land-use policies for a 32-square-mile area of the Santa Monica Mountains. The county Regional Planning Commission voted 3 to 0 to approve the North Area Plan and its final environmental impact report.

The Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission today is expected to approve another large housing project near Santa Clarita--the 2,545-unit Westcreek development on the west bank of San Francisquito Creek. The development has long been decried by local environmentalists who have all but conceded defeat on the project destined for county land just outside the city boundary.

Citing the potential negative impact on air quality and visual blight, the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission took the first step Wednesday toward rejecting a proposed Santa Clarita-area mining operation. "What it boils down to is the quality of life for 250,000 people or the materials the project could produce," said Commissioner George Pederson, who represents the Santa Clarita Valley. "I happen to lean in the direction of quality of life."

In a surprise move, Universal Studios has asked the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission to cancel a Nov. 19 meeting that was widely expected to end that agency's 22-month-long review of the studio's proposed expansion. Universal, which had strongly urged the commission to wrap things up last month, now says it needs more time to "evaluate the cost-benefit analysis of the proposed plan in light of the planning commission's reviews." A two-paragraph letter dated Nov.