Redevelopment Panel Approved by Council

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday approved the establishment of an elected citizens committee that will advise the city about a proposed redevelopment project for the northeast Valley.

With the vote, the city moved closer to committing to a project that was first proposed by Councilman Richard Alarcon more than four years ago.

Last week, the city Planning Commission approved a map that defines the boundaries of the proposed Northeast San Fernando Valley Redevelopment Project, which falls entirely within Alarcon’s 7th Council District.

Rather than a single enclosed area, the project’s boundaries concentrate on specific streets, including portions of San Fernando Road and Van Nuys, Laurel Canyon and Glenoaks boulevards.

Administered by the Community Redevelopment Agency, the project would use special tax financing to initiate commercial and residential programs that would help reduce blight in the northeast Valley, officials said.

“The Project Area Committee is an elected body that will serve as an advisory board to the CRA and the City Council,” said Daniel Rios, a CRA administrator who helped prepare the initial report on the proposed project.

“They will help determine the specific work elements of the project and make recommendations,” Rios said.

CRA officials said Wednesday that letters will be sent out by the end of the month informing residents and business owners within the project’s boundaries about community meetings that will serve as platforms for electing committee members. The first meeting will be held in September.

Alarcon said that the proposed redevelopment project is different from an existing one in the northeast Valley that was created in response to the 1994 Northridge earthquake. “They both are intended to help reduce blight, but the earthquake project is specifically for problems created by the earthquake,” Alarcon said. “This project would be broader. There would be more flexibility in terms of the projects that could be undertaken.”