Panel Favors Extension on Ventura Blvd. High-Rises

A Los Angeles City Council committee Tuesday approved a two-year extension of a moratorium on high-rise building along Ventura Boulevard to allow for completion of a new development plan for the congested thoroughfare.

The Planning and Environment Committee approved the measure unanimously and without discussion. It will now be rushed to the full council and Mayor Tom Bradley for their expected approval before the existing moratorium expires Nov. 4.

City planners said the extension is needed to prevent traffic congestion from the boulevard’s high-rise development from worsening before a private consultant hired by the city can complete a new development plan for the thoroughfare.

The plan is expected to be finished in January, but City Council members who represent sections of the boulevard want to extend the moratorium until November, 1989, to allow for political debate on the new plan.

The plan is expected to tie the scale of future projects to their impact on traffic.

The moratorium applies to new commercial development on Ventura, from Barham Boulevard just south of Universal City to Valley Circle Boulevard in Woodland Hills. It limits buildings to no more than three stories and stipulates that their square footage can be no more than 1 1/2 times the size of the lots they occupy. Zoning usually allows three square feet of development for every square foot of land.

The measure also calls for new development to provide more parking space than is now required.

The moratorium was first adopted by the council in October, 1985. It was extended for one year last November.

If approved, the moratorium will remain in effect for two years or until the council and the mayor approve the development plan.