Industrial Park in Sylmar OKd Despite Protests

The Los Angeles Planning Commission voted Thursday to allow development of an industrial park on an 18-acre plot of residential horse-keeping land in Sylmar.

The commission, on a 3-2 vote, approved an amendment to the Sylmar community plan that clears the way for the Dick Dunn Development Co. of Sherman Oaks to build an industrial building on five acres on Ralston Avenue.

Nearby residents and horse owners have protested the zoning change, saying it would ruin the rural atmosphere of the neighborhood. The vacant land for years has been a buffer between a residential and an industrial area.

The commissioners who approved the change believed the property’s residential designation was no longer practical because the land is directly across the street from factories, a Planning Commission spokesman said.