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Woodland Hills planning commission reviews draft general plan; debates density, business directory and utility wording
Summary
Commissioners reviewed and edited many sections of the draft general plan — changing 'low' density to 'medium' (R119), clarifying agency names (DWR), confirming Maple Fest as city‑sponsored, debating an opt‑in home business directory/newsletter and removing proposed GPS tracking language for snowplows. A public hearing is scheduled for April.
Commissioner Lori Thomas led a detailed line‑by‑line review of Woodland Hills' draft general plan on March 18, proposing edits that affect land use, community promotion, utilities and municipal operations.
Thomas and other commissioners criticized aspects of the resident survey (one commissioner estimated a roughly 15% response rate), and Thomas said low participation likely reflects satisfaction with the status quo rather than widespread opposition. She recommended changing a description in the plan from "low density" to "medium density" and discussed the growing presence of R119 zoning in recent approvals.
The commission debated how to treat home‑based businesses in the plan. Thomas suggested changing aspirational language ("spotlight individual entrepreneurs") to permissive language ("allow individual entrepreneurs and creative professionals opportunities through social media and newsletters") and discussed creating an opt‑in directory tied to the city's business license process so updates would be automated as part of renewals. Commissioners expressed concern about creating an ongoing staff workload to maintain a city‑curated listing and agreed to include the option in the plan rather than require it.
Other editorial and factual fixes included confirming Maple Fest as a city‑sponsored event, correcting agency names (replace 'DNR' with the proper Division/Department of Water Resources, 'DWR'), updating the sewer connections count to 'Approximately 134 homes' and clarifying that fiber conduit installed by the city is used by Utopia while Comcast has installed its own fiber; Summit Creek remains served by CenturyLink according to the draft. Commissioners also agreed to remove proposed GPS/GIS route‑tracking and online publication language for municipal snowplows after privacy and expectation concerns were raised.
The commission asked staff (Ben and Daniel) to update maps so county parcels are shown in a distinct color and to prepare an executive summary for the public hearing. The planning commission will hold a public hearing on the draft general plan at its April meeting; final changes from that hearing will be forwarded to the city council, targeted for the council's first May meeting.
What happens next: staff will prepare the revised draft and an executive summary for the April public hearing; commissioners will take public comment and may recommend further edits before forwarding the plan to the city council.
