LAND USE : Hearing Rescheduled on Bluffs Proposal

A public hearing on a plan to protect the Westchester-Playa del Rey bluffs by regulating land use in the area has been rescheduled to Sept. 13 at 1 p.m. in the Los Angeles City Council chambers.

The bluffs are habitat for such sensitive species as the burrowing owl and site of one of the last strips of coastal sage in the area. The plan would regulate development along the cliffs that act as a buffer between residential areas and the Ballona Wetlands.

The plan was drafted in 1988 by the city after residents and city planners became alarmed by the spread of palatial homes atop a three-mile bluff that runs from Westchester to Playa del Rey.

Critics alleged that some single-family mansions topped 8,000 square feet and sold for at least $1 million, clashing with the smaller residential tracts in the community and posing potential environmental problems for the wetlands below because of water runoff.

The Coastal Bluffs Specific Plan was designed to ensure public access to the coast, control bluff erosion, preserve ocean and Los Angeles skyline views and reduce the effects of grading.

Area residents have complained that the plan is too restrictive.

Three council members--Hal Bernson, Laura Chick and Richard Alatorre--who comprise the Planning and Land Use Management Committee, will conduct the hearing on the proposal and send a recommendation to the full council.

The plan was originally scheduled for presentation before the committee Tuesday but minor changes had to be made after a community meeting on the proposal Monday.