Residents Seek Name Change to Valley Glen

More than 70% of residents in a section of Van Nuys, between Burbank and Victory boulevards, signed a petition requesting an official name change for the area to Valley Glen.

The petition and the request now sit on the desk of Councilman Mike Feuer, who must approve the change to make it official.

Feuer has delayed issuing that approval until the matter is discussed at a Dec. 1 meeting of the area’s Livable Neighborhood Council. The council is a nondecision-making body of area representatives that includes the proposed Valley Glen section.

“The councilman thinks it’s important to hear what the residents [of the entire area] have to say about the change,” said a spokesman from Feuer’s office.

The Valley Glen area includes 1,200 homes and is bordered on the north and south by Victory and Burbank boulevards and on the west and east by Woodman Avenue and the Tujunga Wash.

The area includes Valley College. School representatives said they will back Feuer’s decision no matter what, but will probably ask that the school remain listed as part of Van Nuys.

If Valley Glen does come into existence, the area would require new signage but ZIP Codes and mailing addresses would probably remain the same, the spokesman said.

The small section of Van Nuys is the latest neighborhood in the Valley to request a name change. In recent years, part of North Hollywood became Valley Village, a large section of Canoga Park became West Hills and Sepulveda was replaced altogether by North Hills.

Although Valley Glen does not officially exist, proponents of the change have wasted little time getting used to the name.

Since residents voted for the name change by a two-ballot margin in June, the Valley Glen Neighborhood Assn. has sponsored several events, including the upcoming Valley Glen-Los Angeles Police Department softball game at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Erwin Street Park, corner of Ethel and Erwin streets.

The game is planned to celebrate what backers of the change hope to be the culmination of a five-year effort to rid the area’s streets of the Van Nuys tag.

Festivities will begin at 11 a.m. with a children’s game.