A controversial proposal to build 398 homes on part of the Woodland Hills Country Club property has encountered its most significant obstacle yet.
According to Canyon News, the Los Angeles Department of City Planning determined that the golf course qualifies as wildlife habitat for mountain lions. The finding makes the project ineligible for the streamlined approval process available under California’s AB 2011 housing law.
The proposed development at 4868 Canoga Avenue would replace approximately 20 acres of the country club property with 175 single-family homes, 126 market-rate apartments and 97 affordable apartments.
AB 2011 could have allowed the project to proceed ministerially, without the customary public hearings or environmental review. Losing that eligibility does not permanently reject the development, but it blocks the proposal from moving forward through its intended fast-track process.
The developer’s biological consultant disputes the city’s habitat determination, and a legal challenge is expected. The decision could therefore be overturned in court, or the developer could pursue a revised project through a longer discretionary review process.
For now, however, the city’s ruling represents a major victory for residents who have raised concerns about wildlife, traffic, evacuation capacity and construction within a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone.
Source: Canyon News — “City of Los Angeles Blocks Woodland Hills Country Club Project”
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