By JOSE HERRERA | City News Service
The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a zoning amendment Wednesday to prohibit the development of a massive housing project in Woodland Hills, citing the protection of a mountain lion habitat and concerns about building in a “very high” fire hazard severity zone.
The move amends the zoning code for what is known as A-1, or an agricultural and residential zone, and comes five days after the council supported measures introduced by Councilman Bob Blumenfield to stave off the 400-unit housing project at the Woodland Hills Country Club, located at 21150 Dumetz Road.
Blumenfield asked for the zoning change in advance of an interim control ordinance produced by the Los Angeles Department of City Planning, which will come before the council at a later date. It seeks to prohibit approvals and permits for any demolition, building, use of land, grading and other applicable permits for public parking areas on parcels in A-1 zones that are near sensitive areas, such as very high fire severity zones and hillsides.
If approved, the interim control ordinance would be in place for 45 days, with the possibility of being extended for a year.
“The goal is for the city to have discretion over a proposal that would wedge hundreds of units against the Santa Monica Mountains, a few miles from both the Palisades and Woolsey burn scars,” according to a statement from Blumenfield’s office. “The ICO is very narrow and is meant to close the unintended loophole created by the city’s rule that allows parking lots on A zones through a conditional use permit.”
In November 2025, developer and owner Arrimus Capital, a Newport Beach-based real estate private equity firm, submitted an application with the Department of City Planning for the proposed construction of 175-single family homes, 126 apartments with 97 affordable housing units, consisting of 32 units for seniors and 65 units for families.
The project would entail about 835 parking spots and be developed with internal streets, some green space and surface parking areas. Single-family homes would be planned for up to three stories, while the apartment buildings would be up to four stories.
Arrium is attempting to fast-track the project under new housing laws, specifically AB 2011, which went into effect in July 2023. The law provides a faster ministerial approval process for multifamily housing projects located along certain commercial corridors.
Woodland Hills residents have raised concerns about the safety of the project, including circulating petitions, conducting meetings and lobbying City Council members to oppose the project. Blumenfield’s office has sent letters to state lawmakers on the issue.
Housing advocates such as the Housing Action Coalition, Abundant Housing LA, and YIMBY Law criticized Blumenfield for attempting to prevent the construction of more housing at a time when city is facing a housing shortage.
Azeen Khanmalek, executive director of Abundant Housing LA, wrote a letter to the City Council urging members to oppose Blumenfield’s interim control ordinance.
“Interfering with proposed projects does not only delay housing. It can imperil funding and sends a message to builders that, despite a historic housing shortage, the city is closed to business,” Khanmalek wrote in March. “To ensure affordable housing options at all income levels, we must plan for the future, allow state housing laws to expedite housing and not be careful not to undermine tools meant to build a more affordable California.”
Abundant Housing LA bills itself as “a grassroots nonprofit organization working to solve Southern California’s housing crisis by advocating for more housing at all levels of affordability.”
Blumenfield said a “plethora of documentation” from neighbors, and biological and ecological research from the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and other experts, determined the area was a “wildlife habitat” for mountain lions.
In a 2025 letter to his constituents, Blumenfield explained that state laws created an opening.
“In Los Angeles, parking is allowed in single-family zones with an approved conditional use permit. Because AB 2011 permits these projects on sites where parking is allowed as a principally permitted use — even if a (conditional use permit) is required — projects can proceed in single-family zones,” Blumenfield wrote.
“I fully support multi-family housing, and I have supported affordable housing and permanent supportive housing sites in each community in my district,” Blumenfield added. “Building dense housing in appropriate locations is why I fought so hard to get the Warner Center 2035 Specific Plan through — so we have a designated urban commercial core where large-scale developments like this are welcome and approved through a simple administrative clearance process.”
Aaron Green, a representative for Arrimus Capital, told the Los Angeles Times that the wildlife habitat determination was an “affront to Angelenos who are in desperate need of real housing opportunities.”
“I’ve heard some creative excuses for blocking housing in Los Angeles, but golfing mountain lions may take the prize,” Green told The Times.
Green told the newspaper that the company would likely sue to enforce the law.
“When the city loses in court, it will be required to approve the project and pay millions of dollars in fines,” he said.