Proposed Zone Change at 9945 Wheatland Ave. Shadow Hills

January 24,2006

Councilmember Gruel

Re. Proposed Zone Change at 9945 Wheatland Ave. Shadow Hills, California

Councilmember Gruel,

The Shadow Hills Community has rural atmosphere and is home for folks who enjoy living around and raising animals.

We have in place a community plan which reflects this. What good is a community plan if our public representatives do not respect and uphold it?

This area is a wonderful diverse part of California History. We live this life and wish to maintain and preserve it.

This example is clearly evident where the Court of Appeal, in the case Mejia v. City of Los Angeles, 130 Cal. App. 4th 322, required that an E.I.R. be prepared on a 17.2 acre piece of property owned by Patrick Wizman and California Home Development.

You will find no real argument stating that the size of rezoned property having been size reduced is in any way conducive to rural living and fostering horse and animal keeping rights, especially lot sizes reducing from 40,000 square feet down to 20,000 square feet. It would be too small as this community is painfully aware of. Any zoning issues on the Wheatland development must be reviewed by an Environmental Impact Report first.

Comstock Homes recently built many houses on mostly McBroom Ave. in the Shadow Hills area. They claimed to be zoned for horses but when they got thru with the grading it was easy to see how inferior a horse keeping situation it would be. So if you drive thru that new tract now and you see that most of the back yards are devoid of horses and you wonder why, it is because the amount of open space (hillside included) leftover is not enough nor safe or suitable for horses at all. It is our beloved Shadow Hills Community that is suffering because of this. This is a good example of a local housing project that somehow snuck through without the public notice or chance to comment on rezoning, a reduction in size not once or twice but three times!

You may not prefer to live near or care for horses and animals yourself and for that you have a huge choice of where else to go. Much of the San Fernando Valley is now heavy with the density of closely built homes, condos, apartments and the like. Most of the Valley is no longer zoned for horses and livestock so our choice for where to go is dwindling.

Please retract any letter or form of conveyance recommending or supporting a zone change at 9945 Wheatland Ave. We implore you to support us in maintaining a rural life, one that is not only healthy for our children but for the animals too and lends itself to true California History thru making careful responsible decisions for the future.

Sincerely, Jeff and Nancy Berns