Community Boundaries May Get City’s Sanction, at Last : Geography: The ever-shifting borders in the Valley--largely established by tradition and word of mouth--are on a map expected to be approved soon.

Los Angeles city officials are putting the San Fernando Valley on the map.

Three years ago, an Arleta activist handed over a stack of 27 hand-drawn maps of Valley communities to Mayor Tom Bradley’s office with the hope that, one day, the city would set their boundaries in stone--or at least on paper.

The end may be in sight, as the Valley map nears approval.

Homeowners in an area northwest of the Ventura and Hollywood freeways will know they officially live in Studio City, not North Hollywood. Shadow Hills--so unknown that city officials forgot to include it on the new map--will be officially recognized.

These and a handful of other geographical quandaries will be put to rest if the City Council approves the now-computerized Valley map as expected. City engineers hope to hand over the map and legal descriptions to the council for consideration in a few weeks.

“This would be the first official map ever done of communities in the city of L.A.,” said Glenn Hirano, an assistant division engineer for the city’s land development and mapping division, which computerized the map.

Stability may finally come to a section of the city where community boundaries have largely been established by word of mouth and tradition, said John Maxon, past president of the Arleta Chamber of Commerce. Maxon started the map crusade more than 15 years ago.

“I had to print a pamphlet about Arleta, and I needed to know our borders,” Maxon said. “So I went to the city offices in Van Nuys and asked to see a map, but they had no legal descriptions at all.”

Thomas Bros. Guides, police boundaries and postal zones were no help because they often contradict each other, he said. Community plans, official documents used by engineers on city projects, lump adjacent communities together.

Complicating matters was a series of boundary shifts in recent years. It started when homeowners in western Canoga Park petitioned Councilwoman Joy Picus to change their area’s name to West Hills in 1987. Picus agreed, and the council endorsed the change. That sparked other changes: Part of North Hollywood became Valley Village, and Sepulveda was taken off the map, replaced by North Hills.

While these changes were taking place, Maxon was already at work trying to persuade Valley community organizations to agree on official boundaries.

It was a daunting task, one that took bitter bickering, map-swapping and cooperation among homeowner groups, members of the United Chambers of Commerce of the San Fernando Valley, and City Council representatives.

“At one point, we had a one-block disparity between Encino and Sherman Oaks,” said Bob Scott, president of the United Chambers. “I just told the chambers to document their differences historically--and it was compelling, over time, how people and businesses identified themselves.”

Sherman Oaks wound up on the “winning” end of that question, Scott said.

Maxon said that the map project was handed over to the mayor’s office in late 1990, after most of the large disputes between chambers were settled.

“It’s a lot more complicated than just saying ‘This line goes here,’ ” said Jackie Keene, a field representative for Bradley. “Hopefully now, after all the work, we’ll have something that’s on paper.”

Amid the Balkanization of the Valley’s sometimes anonymous urban sprawl, some hope the map will help jell community identity, Maxon said.

“The idea is that each community should be recognized and its individuality retained,” Maxon said. “Children should know the name of where they’re growing up, and people need to take pride in their communities.”

The proponents of the new map acknowledge that the community names are simply names. There is no Reseda City Council, for example, since it and many other communities are part of Los Angeles. Only tiny San Fernando is a separate incorporated city.

But Scott said recognizing distinct communities may lead the city to establish community councils--similar to town councils in unincorporated areas--which would have no legislative power but could act as a voice for residents.

“I think things like that might come down the road,” he said.

The importance of boundaries extends beyond names and lines. Property values are often at stake. Home values in West Hills rose after it split off from Canoga Park, said Alice McCane, president of the San Fernando Valley Board of Realtors.

Realtors will use the map to confirm the identity of the neighborhoods they show their clients, McCane said. And a map in the hands of house-hunters could prove that a house being advertised as a Northridge residence, for example, is actually in North Hills, she said.

“We need one of those maps desperately,” McCane said. “Every realty office should have one.”

The Los Angeles Police Department has also shown a great interest in the map. Officials are examining it to come up with new area borders that would make it easier for citizens to know which LAPD division they live in and for police to feel responsible to individual communities.

Police are looking to see if they can make their geographic area boundaries match the boundaries of the communities, said Lt. Joe Garcia of the Valley Bureau, which oversees police operations in the Valley.

Garcia took the community of Van Nuys as an example.

“Van Nuys is cut in half between Van Nuys and West Valley LAPD divisions,” Garcia said. Perhaps the borders could be revised, he said, so all Van Nuys residents would call the Van Nuys station.

Police may institute changes as early as January, 1994, Garcia said, and other police boundaries in Los Angeles may realign as well.

Although the final version of the map to be presented to the council is complete, one point of contention remains unsettled:

Who gets bragging rights on Hansen Dam?

Both Lake View Terrace and Pacoima want the dam included in their communities.

Maxon appealed to Councilman Ernani Bernardi for help, but Bernardi left it to the communities to decide. After extended debate, map makers have agreed to let the communities disagree, and called the dam “an area of overlap.”

“Everyone wants a rec center in their community,” Scott said. “Let them both claim it if they want to.”

It doesn’t really matter, Scott said, because the dam is a federally controlled facility.

Maxon agreed.

“It’s an area that can’t be settled because nobody lives there,” he said.

Despite the dispute, many appear satisfied with the map’s boundaries.

“It’s about time it was done,” said Granada Hills Chamber of Commerce President Ronald Morgan. “We don’t have any serious problems with the way the boundaries were set up.”

McCane of the Board of Realtors said board members were “dying to get their hands on a copy of the map” and she is equally thrilled about it. But her 40 years in the Valley--where names change as often as community allegiances--make her cautious about thinking that anything is permanent.

“It’s terrific,” McCane said. “But I wonder how long these boundaries will last?”

Name Game

Remapping the Valley (Again)

A new computerized map of the San Fernando Valley may put to rest the endless confusion concerning the Valley’s ever-changing borders. In the works for three years, the map will soon be sent to the City Council, which must approve the map to make it official.

Some community boundaries are simply tradition. In recent years others have been modified by individual City Council members who, responding to their constituents, asked the full council to realign the lines.

Property values and crime hae driven many name changes in recent years. “West Hills” has been equated with prestige and higher-priced real estate since it was forged from the western part of Canoga Park. Residents in western Sepulveda persuaded the city to rename their community “North Hills” in 1991 to disassociate themselves from crime in the eastern portion of the community. The change miffed residents in eastern Sepulveda so they got their community called North Hills, too. Sepulveda disappeared.

Names from the Past

When and how some current communities got their names Reseda, 1922: Previously Marian, after a business leader’s wife. In 1922, residents changed name to Reseda, Spanish for the mignonette flower. North Hollywood, 1927: Was at first Toluca and then Lankershim, “Home of the Peach.” Studio City, 1928: Laurelwood until movie studios made the area known as “the community with a mile of style.” Tarzana, 1930: Was Runnymede until author Edgar Rice Burroughs bought a ranch in the area in the 1920s and called it Tarzana Ranch, after the famous jungle hero. Canoga Park, 1931: Previously called Owensmouth because it used water from the Owens River. Northridge, 1938: Was Zelzah (biblical word for oasis), until it was changed to North Los Angeles in 1929. Woodland Hills, 1941: Was Girard, after Victor Girard, developer who built up the area. Some considered Girard a fimflam man, Name was changed partly to disassociate the community from him. Sun Valley, 1948: Was Roscoe, a name connected to a train robbery there in the late 1800s. Conflicting stories say Roscoe may have been the name of the robber, train engineer or a brakeman who lived in the area.

New Communities 1. Formed in 1991 from all of Sepulveda and south Granada Hills 2. Created in 1991 from small chunk of North Hollywood 3. Formed in 1987 from western part of Canoga Park

Boundary shifts A. Small area of eastern Encino added to Sherman Oaks B. Part of North Hollywood added to Studio City C. Southern part of Reseda added to Tarzana D. Small part of Canoga Park added to Woodland Hills E. Eastern part of Sunland added to Tujunga F. Small part of Reseda added to Encino G. Southern end of Van Nuys added to Sherman Oaks

Sources: Los Angeles Mapping and Development Division, San Fernando Valley: Then and Now

Researched and written by JULIE SHEER / Los Angeles Times