Riot-Victim Center in Pacoima Closes : Assistance: Only 150 applications had been processed at the site since it opened May 8, the lowest level of aid among nine facilities.

A joint federal and state assistance center in Pacoima, set up to aid those who suffered losses in the recent riots, closed Wednesday because it served only 150 applicants since it opened May 8--far fewer than the other eight relief centers.

“It’s by far the smallest number we’ve had at any center,” said Michael Allan, a spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

“At the Ambassador Hotel, our busiest center, we’ve had 4,178 applications. There’s been an imbalance of applicants. Our second slowest center, the Watts Senior Center, has had only 442 registrations.”

The Disaster Application Center at the David Gonzales Recreation Center at 10943 Herrick St. near Van Nuys Boulevard was open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day since it was established.

Representatives of city, county, state and federal agencies were available to provide assistance and information. They will be transferred to other centers, Allan said.

The Pacoima center is the only one of the nine to close so far.

Officials recommended that San Fernando Valley residents seeking assistance go to the Hollywood Recreation Center at 1122 Cole Ave. or the Ambassador Hotel at 3400 Wilshire Blvd.

On an average day, fewer than 15 applicants sought help at the center from the 20 to 30 representatives of agencies including the federal Small Business Administration, American Red Cross, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Los Angeles County Assessor’s Office, Veterans Administration, California Board of Equalization, San Fernando Valley Legal Services and the Internal Revenue Service.

About 75% of them were small business owners whose enterprises were damaged or looted during the unrest, said Jerry Bender, a manager for the California Office of Emergency Services.

Most of those businesses were downtown or in South Los Angeles rather than the San Fernando Valley, he said, but the owners lived in the Valley or heard that lines were shorter in Pacoima than those at other centers.

“I’ve heard they have had to wait as long as three hours in Koreatown,” Bender said.

“We were geared up for 100 people a day when we started,” he said.

“But this area didn’t have the volume of damage we expected at first. . . . When we look at it that way, it’s good we weren’t busier here.”