Officials to Poll Residents on Chatsworth Courthouse Site

Los Angeles County court officials have commissioned a poll by telephone of west San Fernando Valley residents this week in an effort to show there is widespread support for a proposal to build a new municipal courthouse in Chatsworth.

Court officials are “having a heck of a time” convincing “a small, very vocal minority” that a vacant nine-acre site on the southeast corner of Winnetka Avenue and Plummer Street is the best location for the court, Deputy Court Administrator Robert Quist said Wednesday.

“It’s to get a good feel of how the majority of citizens feel,” Quist said. “I suspect we’ll have overwhelming support overall.”

Residents of the upper-middle-class residential neighborhood north of Plummer say they oppose the location because they fear a courthouse will bring graffiti, crime and more traffic to their community and lower property values.

“We’re talking about 2,000 residents here,” Quist said of the opponents. “I don’t think they should decide for a community of 400,000. They represent only a small percentage of the people in the West Valley--about one-half of 1%.”

The 18-courtroom, three-story facility would serve the communities west of Balboa Boulevard, easing crowding at the San Fernando and Van Nuys municipal courts, Quist said. It would cost about $37 million.

A professional polling firm, which Quist said he will name Friday when results are announced, will contact 400 households throughout the West Valley, Quist said.

Residents opposed to the courthouse, meanwhile, said they will meet tonight to formulate plans for their own poll.

“I’m disappointed that they would resort to this kind of thing,” said Harry Godley, chairman of the Chatsworth Homeowners Committee.

“With a poll you can do most anything. You can ask leading questions, make it come out any way you want,” Godley said.

“We’re not at all opposed to a courthouse in Chatsworth, but we don’t want one directly across the street from a residential community,” he said.

Lee Dawson, another opponent, said residents are “quite surprised that the county would use public funds” to conduct the poll.

“I guess they think we’re not representative of the community,” he said.

Dawson said opponents have contacted 800 households in the area and have gathered about 1,000 signatures on petitions opposing the courthouse location.

Quist said the $9,000 court officials are paying for the poll comes from traffic tickets and misdemeanor fines.