Is Universal’s Growth Plan Neighborly?

This month, Universal Studios unveiled to county officials a 25-year, $2-billion expansion plan that would double its studio, office, theme park and hotel space.

Studio officials predict the project would create 13,000 jobs at Universal and boost tax revenues by $25 million a year, but some residents say they are wary of a plan akin to dropping Disneyland at the Hollywood Freeway.

Worries over noise and traffic are heightened, critics say, because of a lack of details about the plan. But supporters point to Universal’s flexibility and willingness to limit impacts as a sign of the studio’s good faith.

Is Universal Studios’ expansion plan a good one for the Valley?

Gerald Silver, president, Homeowners of Encino:

“An expansion of MCA filmmaking, taping and production facilities . . . brings to the Valley high-quality jobs that provide a stable income for families. . . . On the other hand, the proposal MCA has is to change the character from a film-production orientation to an end-destination resort that we are very much opposed to. . . . This is going to bleed the Valley infrastructure dry. We are on the same water supply as MCA and breathe the same air.”

Denise Coleman, co-chairwoman of Universal City Tomorrow:

“I think it’s a very good plan. . . . It will double the number of jobs in all levels at Universal City and in support industries in the area. . . . Also, it’s a growth industry in Los Angeles. The entertainment industry has really been leading us out of a recession. . . . Universal has been very forthcoming about what they intend to do. . . . A lot of the information they have gathered has been incorporated into the master plan . . . [such as] a height limit to help alleviate the impact on the view of Universal City . . . [and] a green zone in the area to protect the neighborhoods.”

Tony Lucente, president of Studio City Residents Assn.:

“We very much feel that the expansion as planned is out of balance with what will be best for the local community and the city as a whole. . . . Universal Studios will spend literally millions of dollars improving the structure to get people into the park, yet they haven’t proposed any easy way to get them out. . . . They’re going to dump thousands of cars on local streets. . . . We’d like to see direct access from Universal Studios southbound on the Hollywood Freeway. . . . There’s a lot of fear in the community that it’s going to look like Katella Avenue and Harbor Boulevard in Anaheim.”

Richard Carr of the Hollywood Knolls Community Club:

“There are too many possibilities that I don’t feel have been indicated in the draft [environmental impact report] in regard to the impacts. . . . For example, the future entertainment venue plans could be swapped for studio production buildings and studio production buildings could be warehouses, woodworking shops. . . . Those people start very early in the morning and that would be an adverse use. . . . The area could also become a CityWalk-type retail entertainment area . . . going until 2 o’clock in the morning. . . . How can we have any assurance that . . . the impacts of the project [will not be] far worse than anyone had anticipated?