A Woodland Hills homeowners group has reached a settlement of its legal action against the city of Los Angeles over its approval of a site for a new In-N-Out, in which the residents maintained the business’ potential negative environmental impact on their neighborhood was not properly assessed.
The West Valley Alliance for Optimal Living petition had asked a Los Angeles Superior Court judge to set aside the city’s approval of the project and put it on hold until the cumulative effects of traffic, noise and water quality were evaluated. But on Tuesday, the alliance’s attorney notified Judge Curtis A. Kin with a filing stating that an “unconditional” resolution of the case had been achieved. No terms were divulged.
The project site is within the Canoga Park-Winnetka-Woodland Hills-West Hills Community Plan, which the petition said was aimed at helping homeowners promote, preserve and rehabilitate local neighborhoods while balancing commercial interests.
The construction area includes a vacant former Bank of America building and consists of just under 40,000 square feet along Ventura Boulevard near Rigoletto and Del Valle streets and Fallbrook Avenue.
Last Oct. 1, the City Council adopted the recommendations of the Planning and Land Use Management Committee and found that the project was exempt from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act.
But the alliance maintained the project did not qualify for a CEQA exemption and predicted significant traffic increases. The group’s attorney submitted studies from In-N-Outs in Monrovia, Santa Rosa and San Juan Capistrano showing that the Woodland Hills development would generate multiple times the traffic claimed.
The alliance also criticized the project’s expected impacts on noise and water and air quality, according to the petition filed last Aug. 7, which further noted potential negative impacts of the drive-thru queuing area on nearby multifamily housing.