SHERMAN OAKS : Plan Unveiled to Create ‘Main Street’

The creation of a main street for Sherman Oaks is the goal of an ad hoc citizens committee looking at local urban-design issues, architect Jeffrey M. Kalban reported at a meeting of the Sherman Oaks Town Council this week.

“The important thing is that we realize the opportunity we have to try to make things better,” said Kalban, who has drafted architectural drawings based on the committee’s ideas.

At a meeting Tuesday night, Kalban presented the committee’s conceptual plan for street and sidewalk improvements along Sherman Oaks’ portion of Ventura Boulevard. The plan includes street medians dotted with trees, a pedestrian plaza on Vesper Avenue and California Craftsman-style trolley stops.

The Sherman Oaks committee is one of five formed by the Ventura Boulevard Specific Plan Review Board for communities along the boulevard from Woodland Hills to Studio City. The committees are holding public meetings in their towns this summer and fall to develop streetscape recommendations that, when finalized, will be forwarded to the Los Angeles planning department.

Kalban, who is volunteering his time to the effort, said the group is trying to create a “timeless contemporary California atmosphere” along Sherman Oaks’ section of Ventura Boulevard, where improvements are projected to cost $2.5 million.

One important element of the proposed plan is closing Vesper Avenue between Ventura Boulevard and Moorpark Street and turning the street into a plaza centered around a fountain. Stores would line both sides of the street.

Another element is turning the intersection of Van Nuys and Ventura boulevards into a gateway into the community for motorists driving off the Ventura Freeway. This would be accomplished by adding Craftsman-style touches to existing “cobra head” street lights and putting up large signs reading “Ventura Boulevard” and “Van Nuys Boulevard” on opposite corners.

The conceptual streetscape plan also envisions a grove of trees in front of Sav-on Drugs at 14735 Ventura Blvd., parking lots along Moorpark Street and special paving at the intersection of Van Nuys and Ventura boulevards.

The Sherman Oaks Town Council is a coordinating body of community groups, including the homeowners association and the Chamber of Commerce, whose purpose is to work collectively for the betterment of the community.