Porter Ranch Development

Developer Nathan Shapell is seeking city approval for an agreement that would prohibit the City Council from altering his huge Porter Ranch building plan for 20 years, a proposal that City Council candidate Julie Korenstein charges would unfairly tie the city's hands.

When they go to the polls April 9, voters in the 12th City Council District will choose from among the largest field of candidates since incumbent Hal Bernson was elected in 1979. Bernson's five challengers are a diverse group, all hoping to take advantage of what they see as Bernson's vulnerability on district development issues. The 12th District covers the northwest San Fernando Valley, including the communities of Chatsworth, Granada Hills, Northridge, Porter Ranch, Reseda and Winnetka.

Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson, in his first face-to-face encounter with five rival candidates, Tuesday defended the massive Porter Ranch development that has become the central issue of their campaign, while the challengers attacked the $2-billion project.

Julie Korenstein's belief that she can force Hal Bernson into a June runoff election using the Porter Ranch Development issue illustrates her inability to correctly conceptualize the issues. Look into her record as a member of the Los Angeles school board. Because of her inabilities and weakness, the local junior high school and Granada Hills residents have been at a disadvantage from day one. At the same time she is bidding for the City Council seat, what is Korenstein doing about the current L.A. school financial crisis?

I am not in Councilman Hal Bernson's district, but I wish I could vote to eject him. My home looks across the Valley toward where the Porter Ranch development is contested. As a resident of Southern California, I feel that the destruction of the hills is my issue too. "Responsible growth" is an oxymoron in Los Angeles in 1991. The time has come to cherish the open spaces that remain. Los Angelenos are rapidly forsaking an outdoor environment for an indoor one. We are bulldozing over the very qualities that attracted people here.

Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson on Friday condemned as "grossly inadequate" a report assessing environmental impacts of a 20-year plan for shaping development in the Chatsworth-Porter Ranch area that was written by a panel Bernson had picked. The report predicted that development permitted by the plan would cause more smog and massive traffic jams in the northern San Fernando Valley that could be alleviated only by spending millions of dollars on street improvements.

Development in the Chatsworth-Porter Ranch area over the next 20 years will increase smog, harm plants and wildlife in the Santa Susana Mountains, and strain city services, according to a new environmental study. The additional residences, businesses and industries, many of them in the massive Porter Ranch development, will generate a demand for nearly 26.4 million gallons of water a day, said the draft of an environmental impact report prepared for the city by EIP Associates.

A Superior Court judge Friday rejected a homeowner group's attempt to block the massive Porter Ranch development on the slopes above Chatsworth. Judge Dzintra Janavs ruled against a lawsuit by PRIDE (Porter Ranch is Developed Enough) that challenged the Los Angeles City Council's approval of the project.

Former Los Angeles City Councilman and self-described "country boy" Robert Wilkinson is one of City Hall's top-paid lobbyists with more than $800,000 in earnings since 1987, including nearly half a million dollars from the Porter Ranch Development Co., city records show.. The $475,000 in fees paid by the Porter Ranch firm make up 58% of the $819,452.50 the 69-year-old Wilkinson earned while lobbying for nearly two dozen clients since January, 1987. From January, 1987, to Sept.

The Simi Valley City Council decided Tuesday night not to sue Los Angeles to block the $2-billion Porter Ranch development in Chatsworth because council members said their concerns about traffic and smog have been resolved. Councilman Bill Davis said the council had been assured by the city of Los Angeles and Porter Ranch Development Co. that the Simi Valley Freeway would get a fourth lane before occupany permits are issued for 4.5 million square feet of commercial and retail space.