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Committee denies appeal and sustains tentative map approval for West Valley subdivision with modified conditions
Summary
An appeal by a West Valley community group challenged a tentative map for a 21‑house subdivision; staff and applicant described a conservation donation and site conditions, and the committee denied the appeal and approved the map with the modified conditions read into the record.
The committee considered an appeal of a tentative tract map to subdivide a property into multiple parcels and permit construction of approximately 21 single‑family homes in the West Valley/Encino‑Tarzana area. Planning staff presented the project, the record of environmental review (including prior program EIR/addenda referenced in staff materials), and modifications to conditions of approval that staff prepared in response to public and technical review.
Appellant counsel Jamie Hall, representing the West Valley Alliance, argued the project would remove an important historic orange grove and that the staff’s reliance on a programmatic environmental document did not adequately analyze project‑specific impacts, including wildfire and emergency‑access standards. Hall also questioned whether access improvements proposed by the applicant fully satisfy State fire‑safety standards.
The applicant team, including Eliezer Paster and counsel, described the project as a compromise that would preserve more than four acres in public conservation, donate that acreage for public access and conservation, and develop the remainder with housing units the applicant and neighborhood supporters said the community needs. The applicant and several neighborhood groups said two neighborhood councils unanimously supported the project.
Several members of the public and neighbors spoke in support of preserving portions of the site and noted the developer’s conservation offer; others raised concerns about historic resources and fire safety. Staff confirmed modified conditions to clarify tree removal, preservation of specific parcels, and sequencing requirements tied to final map recordation.
After deliberation the committee moved to deny the appeal, adopt the modified conditions as read into the record, and sustain the planning determination and tentative map approval. The roll call vote was unanimous in favor of sustaining the approval.
