NORTH HOLLYWOOD : 5-Year Redevelopment Plan to Be Discussed

A public hearing on a five-year redevelopment plan for North Hollywood will be held today at 5 p.m.

The plan for the North Hollywood Redevelopment Project, being drawn up by the Community Redevelopment Agency, includes $6.9 million for economic development projects and another $3.1 million for housing revitalization. But agency officials predict that four years into the plan, they will have no funding for new projects, said Walter Beaumont, the agency’s community affairs specialist.

The agency started in 1979 in North Hollywood with a cap of $89 million and has cost $77 million so far, not including debt service, Beaumont said. Meanwhile, the agency is trying to find alternative sources of funding, Beaumont said.

The redevelopment plan will continue after four years, however, but with no new projects. Funds to pay off the plan’s debts will come from projects already completed or under way, Beaumont said.

A new state law requires that all community redevelopment agencies adopt a five-year plan by the end of the year. Until now, the agency has merely had hearings every two years to review what projects had been completed.

North Hollywood residents, merchants, tenants and property owners are asked to attend today’s hearing at 5 p.m. at St. David’s Episcopal Church, 11605 Magnolia Blvd. After the hearing, the agency will consider changes to the plan before final adoption by its board of directors and approval by the Los Angeles City Council.

The plan is intended to be a guide for redevelopment in North Hollywood, although it may be amended by the agency after it is adopted.

“These are going to be the goals for the next five years,” Beaumont said.

Some of the possible long-term goals of the plan include widening streets and helping homeowners to remodel and renovate their homes. The plan includes a goal to build 78 new homes in the 750-acre redevelopment project area between Tujunga Avenue to the north and Hatteras Street to the south, with east-west boundaries of Cahuenga Boulevard and Camarillo Street. The redevelopment plan is also geared to creating jobs and helping businesses in the district.