WOODLAND HILLS—On Friday, August 21, the Los Angeles City Council voted against a housing development, and Woodland Hills Country Club due to the presence of mountain lions. The acreage is owned by Arrimus Capital. They own the entire 93-acre facility and were planning to develop the other 20-acres into single family homes, apartments, and some rent-controlled facilities.
Photo Credit: Pricilla du Preez
The housing project was expected to have 175 lots for sale for three-story single-family homes, a four-story, 189 apartment building, and 34 rent-controlled apartments. The Woodland Hills community shared their enthusiasm for the project on their social media pages referencing the job opportunities. Others commented on sharing the beauty of living in Woodland Hills with others. This does not include the money Woodland Hills Country Club would bring in with a new golf course on site.
Los Angeles City councilmember (District 3 2013-Present), Bob Blumenfield spoke out against the project, indicating that the property to be developed is a habitat for mountain lions.
On July 10, Blumenfield made an announcement to an SCNG publication, Daily News, stating his plans to run for the U.S. Senate in 2028.
In a newsletter dated August 20, Blumenfield wrote about the City Council voting against the development. The full text may be read on the Los Angeles City’s government webpage.
“Great news! Today, there was a big announcement from our City Planning Department about the Woodland Hills Country Club. Due to a plethora of documentation from neighbors and a lot of biological and ecological research provided by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and other biological experts, the Planning Department just determined the Woodland Hills Country Club site is ‘wildlife habitat’ for the endangered Mountain Lion.
With concerns including the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, I tried many different ways to secure a discretionary process; not to stop any development, but to make sure that the project would not endanger the health and safety of our community.
While we made sure City Planning did a thorough review of the project application for ministerial approval, we all feared that the Department was on the verge of possibly approving the process ministerially.
Being in a high fire severity zone wasn’t enough to get discretionary review and pointing out that the project is not actually on a commercial corridor (the intended area that is subject to the expedited process under State law) wasn’t enough. However, determining that the project is proposed on endangered species habitat is enough.
Planning was tasked with figuring this out based on available evidence, scientific input and court precedents, and fortunately they determined the site to be Mountain Lion habitat.
It is a huge step to tap the brakes and put the juggernaut proposal (almost 400 units packed into a third of the site) in a high fire zone on a discretionary path. In the eyes of the city, the proposal submitted by the developer does not qualify for AB 2011 ministerial processing.”
By Sharon