County May Lift Its Ban, Lease Olive View Land to Raise Money

Los Angeles County’s self-imposed moratorium on developing vacant land at Olive View Medical Center in Sylmar could be ending soon, according to a report released Tuesday to the Board of Supervisors.

County officials have estimated that leasing a small portion of the hospital’s property to a private developer could generate $20 million in revenue for the cash-strapped county during the next 20 years. A 34-acre site west of the medical center would be leased for light industrial or commercial and retail use.

“From an economic standpoint, we feel the favorable market conditions in the Sylmar area support proceeding with the project,” wrote Chief Administrative Officer Richard B. Dixon.

More than four years have elapsed since the county last proposed making money off empty land at the medical center. But the plan to lease space to a water-slide amusement park outraged community activists. They persuaded Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who represents the area, to kill the project.

Promise From County

Residents also extracted a promise from the county that no development plans would be unveiled until Olive View had been operating for two years. It was agreed that this would allow time to see how the new medical center, which opened in the spring of 1987, would affect surrounding neighborhoods. At the time, residents said they were especially concerned about the increased traffic the hospital would generate.

The county is conducting traffic studies, updating its appraisals of the hospital property and preparing drawings of a typical business park. If the results are positive, county officials hope to hold public hearings on the proposal to lease land. In May, the county could circulate its proposal among developers.

If the proposal is approved by the board, the county anticipates selecting a developer by March, 1990, and signing a lease four months later.

Hannah Dyke, a founder of Olive View Neighborhood Watch, said it would be premature to predict the community’s reaction to revised development plans.

But she added: “We’ll be extremely concerned about the traffic. We will be concerned about the provision for people who ride horses in the area and what type of development they will put in.”

Angry About Plans

Chuck O’Connell, an officer of the group, said he was angry that the county had made preliminary plans without consulting the community.

“I’m really surprised and disappointed,” he said. “We’ll have to get cracking again to have them not step on the community again.”

The Olive View update was requested last week by Supervisor Pete Schabarum, who expressed frustration that the land had remained vacant for so long. He complained that the county was losing a money-making opportunity.

After reading the report, Schabarum remained unsatisfied. He complained Tuesday that the county had not considered selling a large chunk of land to a home builder and had considered leasing only 34 acres. County officials estimated that there are as many as 600 empty acres on the Olive View grounds, with some reserved for potential hospital expansion.

“That property is just in limbo,” Schabarum said. “Nobody wants to deal with it.”

Dixon promised Schabarum that his office would explore selling some of the property or leasing more land.

Antonovich sat quietly at the meeting while Schabarum talked. But Antonovich’s chief deputy, Tom Silver, said later that the supervisor was keeping an open mind on the property’s fate.

“We really haven’t formulated any view,” Silver said. “We are still looking at the reports as they come down.”

When asked if Antonovich favored some type of development, Silver responded: “All things being equal, we should get some revenue out of it.”