By the People, Among the People

Talk about a no-brainer. In this sprawling city, most of life unfolds outside City Hall. But most of government’s business still gets conducted downtown--which can be an hour or more away from far-flung communities such as Chatsworth or Woodland. Hills. It may be convenient for bureaucrats and politicians; it’s anything but for the residents whose tax dollars keep the city afloat. That’s why a proposal to move hearings about San Fernando Valley development projects to the Valley makes such good sense.

City Council members Hal Bernson and Richard Alatorre have suggested moving hearings by a Planning Department advisory board to the Valley. The board is the first stop for many projects and provides an opportunity for residents and city departments to attach conditions to approval. Police may ask for better lighting, firefighters may ask for wider streets and residents may ask for fewer units.

Gripes about the way their neighborhoods are developed top the list of many residents. Giving them the chance to get involved more easily--without having to drive downtown--can only help improve the feeling that communities have a say in their futures. Roughly 50% of the development applications processed by the city originate in the Valley. Recognizing this, the Planning Commission already holds one meeting a month in the Valley.

But by the time projects reach the commission they are further along and developers may be less willing to change designs to meet the needs of neighbors. It’s much cheaper to change a plan early on. And some developers support the proposal--in large part because they don’t like schlepping downtown any more than anyone else.

The only hitch: Finding a place to hold the meetings. City officials should tackle that problem as quickly as possible and give more residents more access to the government that belongs to them. City Council meetings outside of City Hall have been enormously popular. A bureaucracy trying to fight off the threat of Valley secession should understand that people want to connect with their local government. First, though, they have to be able to reach it.