Canoga Park Area to Be Polled About Joining West Hills

City Councilwoman Joy Picus, still wrestling with disputes over West Hills, said Monday night that she will ask residents of a 4-square-mile area whether they want their neighborhood added to the new community carved from Canoga Park.

Households just east of West Hills--in the area bounded by Platt and Woodlake avenues on the west, Victory Boulevard on the south, Topanga Canyon Boulevard on the east and Roscoe Boulevard on the north--will be polled, Picus said.

Two-thirds of the households polled in a neighborhood must favor the change in order for the area to be included in West Hills, she said.

Residents of the area now called West Hills succeeded in having their community separated from Canoga Park earlier this year because they felt the name change would benefit their property values. After the name change, neighboring areas clamored to be admitted.

The possibility of a boundary switch was discussed when Picus met privately Monday night with neighborhood and civic leaders from West Hills and Canoga Park to review the wording of a questionnaire to be mailed in the next three to four weeks.

She said homeowners in the area that earlier was designated West Hills will not be polled about the extension.

The survey will ask residents whether the West Hills border should be moved eastward from the Platt Avenue area to one of three proposed boundaries, Picus said.

“The question says, ‘Shall the eastern boundaries of the community designated West Hills extend to A) Fallbrook, B) Shoup, (C) Topanga?’ ” Picus said. “It’s pick one.”

“The group made the decision,” Picus said of the format. “This was very much the consensus. At the end, nobody was displeased. Nobody went home angry.”

Picus agreed to a survey last week in hopes of ending the controversy that has dogged her since she created West Hills in January. She said last week that she would abide by her constituents’ decision whether to enlarge West Hills.

Participants left Monday night’s meeting, held at Picus’ Reseda field office, with mixed emotions.

“I don’t think everything has been resolved,” said Jim Fedalen, a representative of the area between Shoup and Fallbrook avenues. He said he will ask that another meeting be held.

Fedalen said he was unhappy that Picus plans to count unreturned questionnaires as “no” votes. He said a group will be formed in his area to encourage residents to return the ballots.

Neighbor Randy Cohen said she feels that everyone in Canoga Park should be allowed to vote. “I’m not too pleased with the way things went,” Cohen said. “The way it is now I would not consider fair.”

Mickey Epstein, who lives between Shoup and Topanga, charged that Picus’ poll will further “fractionalize” Canoga Park.

“I don’t like the way the thing is going,” he said. “People are going to be fighting against each other. It should not be done by zones, where you’re pitting one group against another.”

West Hills representatives could not be reached for comment after Picus’ closed-door meeting.