Mailings to Oppose Elevated-Train Plan

Homeowner associations in the south San Fernando Valley plan to send out three mailings--including one that will go to 17,000 people--in an attempt to consolidate opposition to a possible elevated train along the Ventura Freeway.

The group, which is calling itself the Coalition of Freeway Residents, will conduct the first mailing this week to its 1,000 members, urging them to attend a public hearing on the project Sept. 14.

At the meeting, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority will unveil reports that evaluate two competing route proposals for an east-west Valley elevated rail line.

The MTA has said it will decide next month between the two routes: the one along the Ventura Freeway and another that would follow Burbank and Chandler boulevards.

Most south Valley residents favor the Burbank-Chandler route, while residents in the east, west and central Valley prefer the Ventura Freeway route.

The Homeowners of Encino will send out 3,000 flyers to its members and some coalition members to invite them to an association meeting, where the featured speaker will be a property rights lawyer. The meeting will be held the third week of September; the date has not yet been set.

If the MTA approves the Ventura Freeway route, community activist Gerald Silver said he fears property values will drop due to marred views, increased traffic and noise. Next month, south Valley homeowner associations from Woodland Hills to Studio City will send out 17,000 flyers to urge members to express their support for the Burbank-Chandler route at the MTA meeting.

The purpose of the flyers is “to alert the community to this major environmental disaster that’s pending, and to alert them to their legal rights in terms of eminent domain,” said Silver, who is helping to coordinate all three mailings.