Portion of Winnetka Avenue May Be Renamed

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday approved a name change for the northernmost tip of Winnetka Avenue, which will now be known as Porter Ranch Drive.

Provided, that is, that the developer of the Porter Ranch residential-retail project picks up the $52,280 tab for changing the street and freeway signs.

Richard Mahan, spokesman for the Porter Ranch Development Co., said he thought that the company would pay for the change.

The section of Winnetka that is affected runs from Sesnon Boulevard to the street’s terminus just south of the Ronald Reagan Freeway. Most San Fernando Valley residents are more familiar with the stretch of Winnetka that runs south from Devonshire Street.

The name change was proposed by the developer and supported by Councilman Hal Bernson, who represents the area, said Bernson’s spokesman, Ali Sar.

One Porter Ranch homeowner, Margo Hartzheim, said: “People don’t really care one way or the other” about the street’s name. A far more gripping issue, she said, was the controversial development of large discount stores in the area.

But Walter Prince took a different view. “I think it stinks,” said Prince, a member of PRIDE, a northwest Valley residents group. “It’s good free publicity for them.”

He added that when PRIDE was founded in the late 1980s, its name stood for “Porter Ranch Is Developed Enough.”