Problem Area Near San Fernando High : Action on Closing Street Is Delayed

City officials have delayed action on closing a street near San Fernando High School that is plagued by gang-related problems after a flurry of protest from area residents.

Councilman Ernani Bernardi’s office requested the postponement to give officials an opportunity to look at other options.

Residents say closing Chamberlain Street will inconvenience them, cause traffic to spill over into nearby residential streets and not solve Chamberlain’s problems.

A Department of Transportation report that recommended the street’s closing cited gang-related incidents, illegal drug sales, loitering and cruising.

The street’s proposed closure “denies us access out of the community,” said Ruth Belis, who lives on Chamberlain.

Betty Fleeman, who lives near the school, voiced another worry. “They aren’t going to stop doing what they go out to do. They’re just going to come out into our neighborhood.”

San Fernando High School officials had requested that the Los Angeles City Council approve closing Chamberlain Street between Laurel Canyon Boulevard and O’Melveny Avenue during school hours. The council referred the request to the Public Works Committee, which last month approved it.

Hundreds of Students

Chamberlain Street separates the main campus from the school’s agricultural gardens, child-care center and football stadium. During school hours, hundreds of students cross the street to attend physical-education classes at the football field.

The street has become a cruising strip, said Principal Bart Kricorian, and cars block traffic as drivers stop to talk to students.

Kricorian said that closing the street may not be the only solution to the problem, but “it’s the most viable one right now.

“We want to make sure we have control of the street,” he said.

Bernardi on Monday postponed a meeting on the issue with residents and school officials to give the Los Angeles Police Department a chance to consider the problem.

The meeting will be rescheduled for next month. At that time, it will be decided whether to ask the City Council to close Chamberlain Street, an aide to Bernardi said.

Residents say they will fight. “We’re opposing it. It’s not going to stop what’s happening out there,” Fleeman said. “If we are going to control our neighborhood, we expect the school to control theirs.”