Bernson Delays Redevelopment Study 6 Months

Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson said Thursday he will hold off on his attempt to have a run-down section of Northridge declared a redevelopment area, offering property owners a chance to upgrade it themselves.

Bernson said he has asked the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency to halt a study into the feasibility of a redevelopment project for six months so he can appoint a committee of business people, homeowners and city officials to launch a private effort to improve the area.

Bernson’s advocacy of redevelopment for the 40-acre area north of Parthenia Street and east of Vanalden Avenue sparked criticism from property owners and tenants there, some of whom have begun an attempt to recall Bernson.

Critics objected to calling the area blighted and charged Bernson with trying to force them out so that a new business park could be constructed.

The councilman said he changed his mind not because of political pressure, but because he recently was persuaded by some of the area’s business people that a cleanup could be achieved without redevelopment.

“I’d much prefer to have the people there do it themselves and voluntarily, without any agency interference,” Bernson said.

Under redevelopment, the agency sells bonds to finance the upgrading of blighted areas. The agency pays off the bonds with the additional tax revenue generated as the land’s value increases. It has condemnation powers that it can use against landowners who refuse to participate.

“Redevelopment is a tool we did not want to see,” said Greg Baker, vice president of Ross Baker Towing Service.

Baker, who went to Bernson to persuade him to put redevelopment on hold, said, “The point is that there is some cleaning up to be done.”

The cleanup committee, chaired by Baker, will include members of the Northridge Chamber of Commerce and the Police Department, Bernson said. The committee will kick off the cleanup Dec. 16.

About half the property belongs to city agencies, which use it for storage and vehicle repair, among other things.

“I think they’ll be cooperative,” Bernson said.

Bernson’s redevelopment proposal already was off to a rocky start last month when it was criticized by a City Council committee and the Planning Commission.

Walter Prince, a business owner in the area who started the recall effort against Bernson, said the redevelopment would not have succeeded anyway.

“He wants to put out as many fires as he can,” said Prince, who runs a janitorial service, of Bernson’s decision to put redevelopment on hold.

Bernson said Prince and his supporters “have a political agenda” that is not concerned with cleaning up the neighborhood.

Times Staff Writer Jack Cheevers contributed to this story.