Meeting Set Monday : Picus Says She Will Study Canoga-West Hills Shift

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Joy Picus on Thursday called a meeting with representatives of both sides in the conflict over the community of West Hills, carved from Canoga Park in January, saying she will consider changing its boundaries because of protests from homeowners who were left out.

Picus set the meeting for Monday and invited three representatives of the West Hills Property Owners Assn., at whose request she formed West Hills, and three members of the West Hills Open Zone Victims, a group fighting to be included in the community.

Picus also invited the president and immediate past president of the Canoga Park Chamber of Commerce, which opposed formation of West Hills and is fighting the loss of any more of Canoga Park.

Noting the continuing protests from residents excluded from West Hills, Picus said she will reconsider the boundaries.

“Plainly it wasn’t the right decision,” she said. “I’m responding, saying, ‘You’re not happy with what I did. What can we do about it?’ ”

The situation has continued to “fester,” she said, but she is ready to “try to work it out together.”

Picus noted that “there are a lot of different interests involved.” The residents of West Hills “are not eager to extend the boundaries,” she said.

Hope for Breakthrough

Her press aide, Susan Pasternak, said participants had been invited to a 6 p.m. Monday meeting at Picus’ district office in Reseda “to resolve the West Hills issue.”

One of those invited, Lil Younger, founder of the West Hills Open Zone, said she hopes the meeting signals a breakthrough in her group’s efforts to become part of West Hills.

But Joel Schiffman, president of the West Hills Property Owners Assn., said his group probably will oppose any move to extend the boundaries of the affluent hillside community formed from the western flank of Canoga Park.

Schiffman’s group gathered petitions that persuaded Picus to create the community in January. Founders hoped that the new name would raise property values and lower insurance rates.

Some Cite Unkept Promises

The Open Zone, formed by homeowners in a two-mile strip west of Fallbrook Avenue and east of Platt and Woodlake avenues, contends that Picus reneged on a promise made in February to extend the boundaries of West Hills to include its neighborhood as well.

The boundaries of West Hills as created in January are: Roscoe Boulevard on the north, Woodlake and Platt avenues and Sherman Way on the east, Victory Boulevard on the south and the Ventura County line on the west.

Last week, Picus came under fire when she failed to appear at a Neighborhood Watch meeting. Picus said she did not want to face irate residents seeking admission to West Hills.

Picus did not invite representatives of homeowners in the Vanowen Estates section, led by real estate agent Mickey Epstein, who have also been petitioning Picus for inclusion in West Hills.