County officials are asking Leona Valley developers to start over Tuesday on plans for a Valley Vineyard housing development.
“We didn’t approve the project today, we didn’t deny it today,” said Edel Vizcarra, planning deputy for Los Angeles County.
The Regional Planning Commission denied the project in June 2011, according to county documents. In the time being, the developer filed an appeal with the board of supervisors and continued to work with county staff.
At Tuesday’s meeting, supervisors told the developers that they’ll need to take the project back to the planning commission after they work with local representatives.
A couple of the issues with the project were the number of homes that were to be built on the 292.5-acre lot, and a vineyard that was to be built near the homes.
Both represented issues for the local community there, Vizcarra said. He said developers were willing to work with the county and the community on their concerns, and reduce the scope of the 117-home project.
The board had three options Tuesday when considering the appeal: Supervisors could have denied the motion, they could have accepted the appeal and let the project go forward or they could have asked the developers to start over.
The last option was the staff’s recommendation because the project was changing significantly, and the board of supervisors is not the appropriate venue for a first hearing on a project, Vizcarra said.
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“If you have a new project in mind, it needs to go back and be heard by the (Regional) Planning Commission,” Vizcarra said.