Cicero Farms May Be Uprooted by Housing

The Woodland Hills/West Hills Neighborhood Planning Advisory Council has approved plans for three developments in the West Valley.

Two of the plans approved call for new businesses to open on sites that have long stood empty. The third, a housing development, may put an end to Cicero Farms, a nearly 54-year-old Valley tradition.

A 10-acre property on Sherman Way at Sale Avenue has been the home of the produce stand and farm since it lost its lease at Pierce College about three years ago.

Cicero may now face relocation again next spring if the city gives final approval to a proposed 53-home Richmond American Homes project on the parcel.

Joe Cicero, a third-generation Valley farmer, said that while he will continue to operate the stand until the developers begin construction, he has had a difficult time finding suitable farmland in the area.

“Our next move might have to be out of the Valley,” he said. “There’s no farmland left, except for Pierce College. But I don’t want to leave. The San Fernando Valley is my home.”

Ken Bernstein, planning deputy for Councilwoman Laura Chick, said that the office will do what it can to help Cicero find another location in the area.

“It’s unfortunate,” he said. “We’d love for him to be able to stay at that site.”

The NPAC, a group of residents appointed by Chick to provide an early review of projects, also gave approval to a developer to open a Smart & Final store in the former Builders’ Emporium site on Ventura Boulevard near Fallbrook Avenue.

Members also spoke highly of restaurateurs opening a Chuy’s restaurant in the former Star Cafe site on Ventura Boulevard east of Shoup Avenue. Bernstein said that the site has become an eyesore during the years the building has been closed.

The projects still need city approvals.