Protesting the size of a proposed commercial-residential project in Universal City, Councilman Tom LaBong on Thursday said he will use whatever powers he has on the City Council to scale back the development.

"This project will absolutely overwhelm this area and ruin a park space," LaBonge said at a news conference at the Red Line station near the project site.

He was joined by more than a dozen neighborhood council and homeowner groups opposed to the development.

"What they are talking about is just too big for the area and there is not enough mitigation required to deal with the traffic."

The $800 million project, in the planning stage for more than two years, calls for the construction of twin 24-story towers, a five-story studio complex and a 34-story high-rise to be built over the next eight years.

The project will serve as the new home for NBC, which is leaving its Burbank headquarters. It is proposed for Metropolitan Transportation Authority land.

LaBonge sent a letter to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who chairs the MTA board, asking that the plan be scaled back or moved to the Universal Studios lot, which has more than 400 acres of land available. [LOL! Alright Antonio...it's over! LaBong sent a memo.]

more: http://www.dailynews.com/ci_10741068