Porter Ranch Project Sent Back to Bradley

The Los Angeles City Council quietly voted Wednesday to send a key segment of the Porter Ranch project back to Mayor Tom Bradley, a move that could ease the way for final council approval of the 1,300-acre housing and commercial development.

The council sent to Bradley proposed amendments to the Chatsworth-Porter Ranch District Plan, designed to accommodate the $2-billion Porter Ranch project. The project is a development proposed by Beverly Hills builder Nathan Shapell, a major Bradley campaign contributor, and Shapell’s partners, Norman and Irving Feintech.

Located on a Chatsworth mountain slope north of the Simi Valley Freeway, the project would be one of the largest single developments in the history of Los Angeles, with 3,395 residential units and a 6-million-square-foot commercial complex.

Last December, Bradley vetoed the proposed district plan amendments, claiming the project needed more lower-cost housing and public transit.

The veto brought on a flurry of negotiations between the mayor and the project’s major legislative supporter, Councilman Hal Bernson. A Bradley-Bernson compromise package emerged a week later.

But Bradley’s veto--which remains in effect--created a potential tactical obstacle for the project’s supporters, city officials said. To get final council approval, the supporters would need 10 votes to override the veto.

General plan amendments, unlike most other legislative items at City Hall, first go to the mayor and then to the council.

By sending the district plan amendments back to Bradley and getting his approval of them, the amendments bypassed the veto and can be enacted with only eight council votes, said Frank Fielding, a senior city planner.