Sherwood Forest Residents Armed to Oppose Elder-Care Facility at Hearing

When Sherwood Forest residents appear before the zoning administrator on Tuesday, they'll be armed with the unanimous backing of the Northridge South Neighborhood Council, the Council's planning and land use committee, the Sherwood Forest Homeowners Association and the Chatsworth Neighborhood Council's land use committee.

All are opposed to plans to build what Councilmember Donnal Pope calls a Costco-sized elder-care facility in the midst of their single-family Northridge residential neighborhood.

"It's too large, too dense and in the wrong neighborhood," she told the packed Neighborhood Council meeting on Thursday.

The zoning hearing will be 11:30 a.m., Tuesday, at The Braude Building, 6262 Van Nuys Blvd. in Van Nuys.

Tom Stemnock of Planning Associates Inc., representing property owner Fred Selan and politically connected developer Ted Stein, said the proposed two and three-story building at 17545 Parthenia St. would have 105 assisted living units and 35 memory care units. It would replace an estate-type home, he said, under standards established by a 2006 elder-care ordinance.

The ordinance (see PDF in the adjacent photo box) allows elder-care facilities in almost all zones, including RA-1 single-family areas, if the project meets several strict guidelines, the most important of which is that it does not negatively impact the neighborhood.

But neighbors see only negative impacts. None spoke in favor of the project during the 45-minute discussion. There were complaints of insufficient parking, lack of sidewalks, narrow streets, insufficient buffer, impact on property values, and the potential for disruptions by sirens and alarms from emergency vehicles.

Pointing to the residential nature of the community, Jeff Voorheis said, "I don't understand why we have a zoning law if it is not going to be respected." 

"It's like a cancer cell in a neighborhood," he said.

Read more about elder-care zoning issues:

• Neighbors Protest Proposed 99-Bed Elder-Care Facility in Chatsworth
• Sherwood Forest Homeowners Vote Down Plans for Elder-Care Facility
• Englander Joins Neighbors to Oppose DeSoto Ave. Elder-Care Facility [Video]
• Sherwood Forest Elder-Care Facility Fails to Win Support of Land Use Committee
• Why Englander Declines to Take a Stand on Sherwood Forest Elder-Care Proposal
• Elder-Care on Northridge South Agenda Thursday