SAN FERNANDO VALLEY : Developers’ Fees to Improve Ventura Blvd. May Be Cut

The Los Angeles Planning Commission has approved a proposal to drastically cut the fees that developers pay to improve Ventura Boulevard, the San Fernando Valley’s main street, raising the possibility that much of the beautification program will be left unfunded.

The change, which still must be approved by the City Council, angered some neighborhood homeowner groups. But it pleased developers, who saw their share of the bill for improvements cut by 94%, from $125 million to $8 million.

Critics complained that the sharp reduction in fees that developers will have to pay for permits to build on the boulevard left parts of the replacement plan with no clear source of funding, raising the possibility they may never be carried out.

According to neighborhood leaders, the commission voted to effectively take away the only reliable way to pay for $69 million of proposed parking, shuttle buses and other programs for which the homeowners groups had fought long and hard.

Ken Bernstein, planning aide to City Councilwoman Laura Chick, said, “It puts into question whether those improvements will be completed in the near future, and it tells the community that they have to go out and raise the funds themselves.”