City Council Likely to End CRA Project

The controversial Sherman Oaks redevelopment area will probably be defunct Wednesday after the City Council takes up the matter at its regular meeting.

A joint public hearing on the subject--held by the City Council and the city Community Redevelopment Agency board--will also be held at the meeting, which will begin at 10 a.m.

The Sherman Oaks CRA area was approved by the City Council in November 1994 at the urging of then-Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, who said the designation would pump needed dollars into earthquake-rebuilding projects.

But the redevelopment area was unpopular with many local residents who feared the CRA might approve developments they felt were inappropriate for their community.

Councilman Mike Feuer, who now represents Sherman Oaks, promised during his election campaign to end the project.

Little opposition to the project’s termination is expected, according to Howard Gantman, Feuer’s spokesman.

Gantman said Monday that notices of the public hearing had been sent to 20,000 property owners in Sherman Oaks, and that to his knowledge, no one has written to protest the termination.

The aide added that Feuer’s office anticipates that it will cost less than $20,000 in administrative expenses to shut down the CRA, far less than the $100,000 originally estimated.

The cost savings came from the fact that only one public hearing is needed, rather than a series of hearings on the project closure. The streamlined process complies with state laws governing project closures, Gantman said.

“Based on the strong opposition to the CRA in the community, we felt that this [one hearing] would work well,” Gantman said.