Councilmen Oppose Plan for Renewal in Van Nuys

A proposal to create a central Van Nuys redevelopment zone has been rejected by the area’s two councilmen, who agree with a recent city recommendation that the district is not blighted enough to warrant such a drastic measure.

Instead, Los Angeles City Councilmen Marvin Braude and Joel Wachs support the city report stating that community planning measures, not redevelopment, should be used to guide revitalization, already under way, in the central business district.

“It’s not that the area doesn’t require special attention,” Braude said. “It’s just that redevelopment is not the appropriate tool to use.”

Without the support of the councilmen representing the area, the redevelopment idea is dead. The full City Council traditionally defers to council members in matters affecting their districts.

In a report to Braude and Wachs, the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency and Planning Department noted that there is evidence of economic vitality in the area, with commercial development occurring on its own. Also, nearby homeowners are rehabilitating aging houses, according to the report.

To be designated a redevelopment zone, an area must meet strict state-mandated conditions of blight. The conditions stress that an area cannot be expected to turn around without government intervention. Once under redevelopment, property is bought by the city’s redevelopment agency and resold at a discount to developers, thus encouraging new construction. The agency can assemble large parcels of land for renewal projects through its power to condemn property through eminent domain.

‘Private Sector Interested’

“While certain areas do have problems, there are signs that the private sector is interested in investing in Van Nuys and may have continued interest,” said Joe Fazio, the redevelopment agency’s planning manager, who studied the Van Nuys proposal. Without in-depth, lengthy studies, the agency “simply cannot make a judgment” as to whether the area would even qualify, he said.

Braude and Wachs said they will push for completion of a specific plan for downtown Van Nuys to establish parcel-by-parcel guidelines for future development and to set up stringent requirements on such details as building design, landscaping, signs and lighting.

A specific plan for downtown Van Nuys was approved four years ago by the Planning Commission, but planning officials said it became mired in problems with its sign-control ordinance and was never approved by the City Council.

“Existing market forces, together with specific zoning and planning, may be enough to deal with Van Nuys,” Wachs said. “It’s more logical to deal with this first. It doesn’t mean that down the line we still won’t look to redevelopment.”

At the same time, a plan is in the works to build a “high-quality” office building on a city-owned parking lot at the southeast corner of Sylvan Street and Van Nuys Boulevard, next do the landmark Van Nuys City Hall, Braude said.

Under the project, which is in its initial planning stages, the city hopes to lease the land to a private developer, who would construct a fashionable building and lease office space to the city, said Daniel McGowan, a chief administrative analyst.

Anchor for Pedestrian Mall

Such a building would be an attractive anchor for a pedestrian mall on Irwin Street and could stimulate other business improvements along Van Nuys Boulevard, Braude said.

Shelving of the redevelopment proposal comes 1 1/2 years after it was suggested by state Sen. Alan Robbins (D-Van Nuys) in letters to Braude and Wachs.

At the time, Robbins said he envisioned a redevelopment project encompassing a 50-block area bounded by Oxnard Street, Kester Avenue, Kittridge Street and Tyrone Avenue. He said Monday that he supported the councilmen’s plan to renew the 1984 proposal approved by the Planning Commission.

“I wanted the city to take some steps to deal with the overall area and not just a few blocks in the administrative center,” Robbins said. “I think they have substantially expanded their horizons.”

Leaders of the Van Nuys Homeowners Assn., who were opposed to redevelopment because of the threat of eminent domain, were pleased with the councilmen’s decision.

“This is exactly what we had been hoping for,” said Marisa Rubino, chairwoman of the group’s anti-redevelopment committee, which had consulted with an attorney about fighting the proposal.

“The area needs revitalization, but we wanted the city to come up with alternatives instead of the drastic measures of redevelopment,” Rubino said.

Those affiliated with the Van Nuys Area Chamber of Commerce were disappointed but not surprised by the decision. They said they hope to work with the city to devise a better specific plan.

“We had hoped redevelopment would be a vehicle for putting together projects that we cannot make happen otherwise,” said Marcia Mednick, director of economic development for Vitalize Van Nuys, a nonprofit economic development corporation affiliated with the Chamber of Commerce.

The organization had been behind an effort using government loan programs to attract new businesses and offices to the Van Nuys Boulevard retail strip, now a hodgepodge of pawn shops, small clothing stores and an adult bookstore.