Death Threats Close Community Redevelopment Office : Revitalization: Agency plans to reopen North Hollywood facility after improving security. Anger develops over advisory panel.

Reacting to death threats that culminated in the arrival of a hearse, the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency has temporarily closed its North Hollywood office and relocated frightened staff members.

The agency, whose efforts to revitalize North Hollywood have been controversial for more than a decade, plans to reopen the office on Vineland Avenue this week after improving security for the four employees based there, a spokesman said Tuesday.

Police are investigating the bizarre case, which unfolded last month after pro- and anti-redevelopment forces clashed in their annual battle for control of a citizens panel that wields considerable power over the 740-acre project.

The case began with a series of telephone calls from a man who criticized the agency for erecting “tall buildings” and then threatened to kill Lillian Burkenheim, the CRA’s North Hollywood project manager, Burkenheim said.

Burkenheim also began receiving mailed brochures offering burial plots and services, she said. Then, a taxi driver arrived saying he had been called to pick her up and take her to Forest Lawn Memorial Park and Mortuary. A limousine company called to confirm a reservation that someone had placed in her name for the same destination.

The final straw, Burkenheim said, was when a black hearse pulled up at the agency. She said the driver told her someone impersonating a paramedic had called the hearse to the scene of the “crime” to pick up her body, prompting the CRA to close the office March 25, she said.

“Clearly, this is an attack on the office,” Burkenheim said. “A redevelopment agency is an agent of change and that can be difficult.”

The CRA closed the office over the objections of police detectives, who urged officials not to succumb to the harassment, said Los Angeles Police Capt. Rick Wahler.

“There’s some people in the neighborhood who don’t like the CRA and this gives them a little victory,” Wahler said.

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But CRA Administrator Ed Avila said he decided to take the unprecedented step out of concern for his employees. He said he is meeting with Wahler today to discuss the case further.

Avila said that among the security measures the CRA is installing in the North Hollywood office are an intercom system and a large bullet-resistant glass window in the now-windowless building so employees can see anyone approaching.

Opponents and supporters of the redevelopment project condemned the death threats as the act of an irrational person. But both groups agreed that the threats probably arose out of last month’s bitter election battle for 14 seats on a citizens advisory panel, known as the Project Advisory Committee or PAC.

That election resulted in a tie for two crucial seats on the 25-member board, so its final outcome will be decided Tuesday by the other 23 board members.

The citizens panel has had a long history of confrontations, which has resulted in rancorous meetings and on at least one occasion erupted into a fistfight at a public meeting. Anti-redevelopment forces on the panel have accused the CRA of catering to developers and wasting taxpayer money, while supporters say the agency has provided housing and new jobs.

“We’re shocked about the threats, but not terribly surprised,” said James Mahfet, executive director of the North Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, who is a PAC member and redevelopment supporter. “There has been an emotionally charged atmosphere of hostility for years.”

Mildred Weller, a PAC member and longtime opponent of redevelopment, also attributed the threats to the project’s acrimonious history.

“I’m not saying anybody should do this,” Weller said, “but people are very angry over redevelopment.”