Studio City Shuns Supporting Role in Hollywood Cityhood

A group of Studio City residents has asked to be removed from the proposed city of Hollywood, raising the second boundary challenge in as many months.

Last month, a group of East Hollywood residents also petitioned to be removed from the proposed city.

“We did an informal poll, and nobody in Studio City thinks of themselves as being part of Hollywood,” said Tony Lucente, president of the Studio City Residents Assn. “They all identify more with the Valley.”

The area is also included in the San Fernando Valley’s proposed breakaway city. It includes a section of Studio City south of the Hollywood Freeway, north of Mulholland Drive, east of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and west of Regal Place.

Lucente estimated the disputed area includes about 1,000 homes.

The Studio City association has supported the study of Valley cityhood but is awaiting its results before taking a position. One thing the association knows for sure is it does not want to be part of the new Hollywood city, Lucente said.

Hollywood VOTE chairman Gene La Pietra said some Studio City residents asked to be included in the Hollywood city. He said that more than 500 signatures for Hollywood cityhood were collected in the section of Studio City overlapped by the two cityhood proposals.

“It appears that an overwhelming number of folks there want to be part of the new Hollywood city,” said La Pietra. He said it will be up to the residents and the Local Agency Formation Commission overseeing pending financial studies to decide which of the proposed cities, if either, will include the overlapping area of Studio City.

LAFCO officials said they will hold hearings after the financial studies are completed. They then can remove communities from the new cities if there is strong opposition to inclusion.

“We don’t want anyone included that doesn’t want to be included,” La Pietra said.

Hollywood secessionists said they do not believe losing Studio City will jeopardize the financial viability of a new city, but they are about to begin a campaign to shore up support in East Hollywood.

“We are going out there on the road to hold meetings and let people know what we are proposing,” said Fares Wehbe, president of Hollywood VOTE.

The East Hollywood Community Assn. submitted petitions containing 3,500 signatures to LAFCO on Dec. 13 asking that a one-square-mile area of their community be removed from the proposed 19-square-mile Hollywood city boundaries.

The hearings to help LAFCO determine the final boundaries of the new cities are scheduled for later this year, after which the agency will decide whether the proposals are financially neutral and should be placed on the November 2002 ballot.