SHERMAN OAKS : Homeowners Stall Mall Renovations

The chasm between the Sherman Oaks Galleria and homeowners who oppose a proposed mall renovation project is so wide that apparently even Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan has been unable to bridge it.

On Monday, the mayor’s office blamed two homeowner groups, the Homeowners of Encino and the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn., for blocking proposed talks among residents, mall officials and mayoral representatives.

“We are doing what we can,” said Noelia Rodriguez, the mayor’s press secretary, “but we can’t force people to do anything.”

The mall’s owners, Prudential Insurance Company of America and Dai-Ichi Life (USA) Inc., have proposed replacing existing retail and office space with new restaurants, movie theaters and entertainment facilities. The entertainment center, which has provoked the most controversy, would include 17 movie screens and possibly a video arcade.

The Homeowners of Encino and the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn. have come out against the project, saying it will foster youthful hooliganism and increased traffic and that it is incompatible with their quiet neighborhoods.

On the other side, the Sherman Oaks Chamber of Commerce and the Encino Property Owners Assn. support the project “in concept,” although the homeowners group said it has some concerns about the plan.

In mid-January, according to Rodriguez, Cecilia Aguilera--an economic development aide to the mayor--tried to arrange a meeting between anti-project homeowner activists and mall owners in an effort to resolve their differences.

According to Rodriguez and Gerald A. Silver, president of the Homeowners of Encino, the homeowners refused to meet unless the mall owners agreed to scrap the proposed project and begin discussions about possible changes to the mall with a “clean slate.”

Aguilera attempted to mediate the conflict as communications between the two sides began to founder--a situation that each side blames on the other.

Mall officials have attempted to obtain community support for their project because, without such support, it could prove difficult for them to get the zoning variances and other special permissions that may be needed to carry out the renovation.

Sandy Brown--deputy chief of staff for state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica), whose district includes the mall--said she is concerned that the protracted conflict could jeopardize the project’s financing and that mall neighbors could be stuck with an economically depressed mall.

“The developer should find out from the community what kind of project, in the same vein as what they’re looking to do, the community would accept,” she said.