CRA Urges Slicing Valley Project in Half

Faced with opposition and limited resources, city officials recommended Friday that a proposed 6,835-acre redevelopment project in the northeast San Fernando Valley be cut by up to half.

Community Redevelopment Agency administrator Jerry Scharlin said his recommendation could change after he asks a citizens advisory panel to comment Monday.

But Scharlin and Los Angeles City Councilman Alex Padilla agreed in principle at a meeting this week to reduce the overall project in order to better focus on those neighborhoods that are truly blighted and that can be helped by redevelopment.

Padilla said he definitely supports eliminating the following sites, as Scharlin recommended:

* Nearly 2,000 acres in the Hansen Dam recreation area that is not available for commercial development.

* About 300 acres of vacant land owned by the county and maintained as water-spreading grounds.

* The 189-acre county-owned Whiteman Airport.

* The 63-acre former General Motors plant in Panorama City, which was largely unused when originally proposed for inclusion in the redevelopment program but has since undergone a $100-million development into a retail center.

* Property being developed by Galpin Motors in North Hills.

Padilla said he probably will support the elimination of the Panorama Mall and a portion of Lake View Terrace from the plan.

“I support a scale-back of the project area,” Padilla said. “Part of the criticisms or arguments against redevelopment in this project have been that it is too large. Some people perceive it as a land grab.”

“If we scale it back in a way that makes sense, we are becoming more targeted, more focused and in the end more effective,” Padilla said. “The manageability of a project is a significant factor in its future success.”

Scharlin said the cuts could amount to between 40% and 50% of the current proposed project area.

Even cut by half, to about 3,400 acres, the new project area would be by far the largest redevelopment area in the city, dwarfing the 2,817-acre central city area.

As a result, it will continue to face opposition from some Valley activists who say the CRA has failed elsewhere and wasted millions of taxpayers dollars in the process.

North Hollywood attorney Glenn Hoiby said the scaled-back project is still “excessive” and he said it should be further pruned to no more than 500 acres.

Opponents said they are concerned that all property tax revenue generated by increasing land values is diverted from police, fire and other public services to the redevelopment agency, which uses the funds to subsidize further development.

For that reason, some critics, including Jim Leahy, former member of a local citizens advisory group, have said the CRA wants to use the Valley project to help fund the financially anemic agency.

In the last three years, property tax revenue that fuels the agency’s work has dwindled, forcing the agency to cut its staff from 350 to 190 employees.

CRA commissioner Keith Richman said he supports the change. “I felt the original proposal was too large and I felt it needed to be scaled back significantly,” the Valley physician said.

Caron Caines, chairwoman of the 23-member local advisory committee, also agreed.

“I completely support it,” Caines said. “There are definitely areas that should be excluded. It makes a lot of sense. Having it so big and diffused makes it impossible to have any focus.”

In addition to the opposition from some quarters to the larger project, the agency also faces financial limitations that could hinder its ability to properly staff a massive new redevelopment project area while also maintaining service in the existing 31 project areas.

Scharlin said redevelopment law, which strictly defines what blight is, will force some areas to be dropped.

“It’s simply a product of trying to be clear about what blight is and what fits with the clear intent of the law and trying to be realistic about where we can make a difference,” Scharlin said of his new proposal.