Homeowner Group Supports Plans for Drug Rehab Center : Lake View Terrace: Residents reverse their stand after Phoenix House executives scale down their proposal. But the issue remains controversial.

Four years after helping defeat a similar proposal, a Lake View Terrace homeowner group on Thursday endorsed plans to convert an empty hospital into a drug rehabilitation center in return for numerous security, lighting and landscape improvements.

Leaders of the Lake View Terrace Home Owners Assn. said at a news conference that they now support plans to turn the vacant Lake View Medical Center into a 150-bed residential treatment center for teen-age drug and alcohol abusers.

But the proposal by Phoenix Houses of California Inc. remains a source of deep controversy within the community, and City Councilman Ernani Bernardi and at least one other homeowner group still oppose it.

Phoenix House said in May that it will pay $3.2 million to buy the hospital, whose operators declared bankruptcy in 1986. Since then, it has been used as a set for “Terminator 2” and other films.

Phoenix House officials said the company plans to spend $1 million to renovate the hospital as a long-term residential facility for adolescent drug and alcohol offenders. No youths with histories of violent crime will be admitted, though some teen-agers convicted of thefts and drug sales will be admitted.

The Lake View Terrace Home Owners Assn. helped lead a 1988 fight to block a more extensive Phoenix House proposal--a project initially backed by Nancy Reagan. The former First Lady withdrew her support after homeowner leaders said they would picket her Bel Air residence.

Association leaders said Thursday that they reversed their opposition after Phoenix House executives scaled down their plans and indicated a willingness to negotiate over ways to reduce the facility’s impact on the community.

They also said they had little hope of persuading the City Council to withhold a permit for the facility. And they said Phoenix House is on the verge of owning the land, rather than merely having an option on it, as was the case in 1988.

“The political dynamics are not there,” spokesman Lewis Snow said.

Homeowners said Phoenix House agreed to 18 conditions regarding renovation and operation of the rehab center, including the erection of a 6-foot-high fence without footholds between it and single-family residences along its northeastern border.

The conditions also include shielding outside lights so they cannot be seen directly by neighbors and hourly security checks on residents.

No more than 15 residents will be allowed to have cars on the site, and Phoenix House agreed to donate up to 4,000 square feet of space within the center for a community facility such as a library or senior center.

In addition, Phoenix House agreed to “use its best efforts” to hire local residents and employ local contractors for renovation work. The rehab firm promised in a written agreement with the homeowners association to abide by the conditions even if they are not required by the city.

Snow said one reason the homeowners decided to switch their stance is that they believe Bernardi lacks the political clout to prevent the council from issuing Phoenix House a conditional use permit. Many observers believe that Bernardi, who is 80, will retire when his term expires next June.

Bernardi, who adamantly opposes the drug facility, chastised Snow and other homeowner leaders for “buckling under” and vowed to try to persuade a majority of the council to reject the permit.

“What do I think are the chances? I never give up,” he said.

Bernardi noted that a proposal to build the Lancer trash-to-energy plant in South-Central Los Angeles was defeated after intense community opposition despite the city spending $10 million on it.

He also said he would again seek council approval to dip into the Lopez Canyon community fund to buy the hospital from Phoenix House. He failed in a previous effort to do so.

Despite the change of heart by the Lake View Terrace Home Owners Assn., another local homeowner group, We the People, said it would continue to fight the proposal.

Sandy Hubbard, a spokeswoman for the group, which she said has 350 active members, said they fear the facility will lead to burglaries, traffic problems and water shortages in the neighborhood.

Hubbard said We the People will urge city planning officials to require an environmental impact report to study possible problems the rehab center may create. The group also plans to oppose a city permit for it, she said.

Another large homeowners group, the Lake View Terrace Improvement Assn., which earlier this summer said it was willing to negotiate with Phoenix House, said Thursday it had not yet taken a position but plans to poll its members by the end of the month.