Sakharov Square? : Catering to Foes of Changing a Street Name, Wachs’ Proposal Would Honor Soviet With an Intersection

Hoping to avoid merchant opposition that doomed an earlier effort to honor Soviet human-rights activist Andrei D. Sakharov, two Los Angeles city councilmen on Friday proposed naming a major Studio City intersection after the late Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Under the plan, the intersection of Laurel Canyon and Ventura boulevards would be designated “Andrei Sakharov Square.”

An earlier proposal to rename nearby Ventura Place after Sakharov ran into fierce opposition from merchants, who complained that some customers would be unable to find the renamed street and that they would have to change stationery and advertisements.

Councilman Joel Wachs, who authored the Ventura Place proposal, on Friday was joined by Councilman Michael Woo in proposing the designation for the intersection, which splits the two council districts.

The southeast corner of the same intersection was the scene of a lively dispute last year when neighbors tried to prevent a developer from tearing down a coffee shop and a carwash for replacement with a mini-mall. The protesters tried unsuccessfully to save the carwash by arguing that it was a historically important cultural monument to 1950s architecture.

Both sides of that dispute said Friday that they favor the Sakharov proposal.

Jack McGrath, a Studio City activist who led the unsuccessful campaign to save the carwash, said the idea “has merit.” He added, however, that “maybe we should have some sort of election to see if residents agree with it.”

His opponent in the carwash dispute, developer Ira Handelman, called the proposal “commendable, and we’re all for it. . . . We think it’s honoring a great man.”

The Wachs-Woo motion directed the city Bureau of Engineering to erect signs indicating that the intersection has been named for Sakharov. But no part of either boulevard would be renamed.

“This way, no business will have to change any letterheads or anything, so we hope there won’t be any opposition,” said Gail Koretz, a Wachs aide.

The proposal, which was referred to the council’s Public Works Committee, must be approved by the full council.

Although the new proposal may mollify merchants, the location of the proposed Sakharov memorial is opposed by John Nelson, owner of a Texaco gas station on Ventura Boulevard, who is on the board of directors of the Studio City Chamber of Commerce.

Nelson favors honoring Sakharov by giving his name to a small, triangular traffic island at Ventura Place and Ventura Boulevard, just a block east of the intersection chosen by Wachs and Woo. Ventura Place runs diagonally for one block between Laurel Canyon Boulevard on the west and Ventura Boulevard on the south.

Nelson said the chamber’s board suggested naming the island for Sakharov in a letter sent to Wachs about a month ago. Wachs said Friday night that he knows of no such proposal.

Nelson said the island, now home to five palm trees and a sundial, is to be renovated anyway. It will receive brickwork and a flagpole in a project financed by $45,000 that Ventura Boulevard merchants donated years ago to beautify the street divider. Work is scheduled to begin in less than two weeks, Nelson said.

Wachs said he knows of only one other intersection in the city named after a person--Raoul Wallenberg Square, dedicated to the Swedish diplomat who disappeared in the Soviet Union after helping European Jews escape the Nazis. The square is at Beverly Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue.

Wachs said that Sakharov, who died Dec. 14, 1989, at age 68, “was widely known as the conscience of Soviet society” who spoke out vigorously against repression in his homeland.

Manochehr Bajoul, who owns Studio Carpet on Ventura Place, fought against the original proposal to name that street for Sakharov but is all for Wachs’ second proposal. “Today, we are putting one Russian in our neighborhood,” he said.

“Tomorrow, maybe they’ll put the name of one American over there. Who knows?”