Sakharov Street Dissonance : Unwelcome Ideas: Councilman Joel Wachs wants to name a street after Andrei Sakharov. Some merchants say the action would hurt their businesses.

Los Angeles City Councilman Joel Wachs wants to rename a Studio City street to honor the late Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, but some business owners along the street said Friday they prefer to keep the name and get rid of the councilman.

Wachs said Friday that he wants to rename Ventura Place in Studio City to Andrei Sakharov Street. A Nobel Prize winner, Sakharov died last week at 68.

“He was a world citizen of historic proportions,” said Wachs, who lives in Studio City. He compared Sakharov to Gandhi and called him the “conscience of Soviet society.”

“His sacrifices have been inspirational to freedom-loving people throughout the world. We have so many streets named after lesser people, we should honor him with one.” Wachs said he will make the proposal at a City Council meeting Jan. 2.

But on Ventura Place--a one-block street that connects Laurel Canyon and Ventura boulevards--business owners said the change will hurt their profits.

The street is filled with about 20 businesses, mostly small and old stores.

“I’ll kill him if he does,” said Beverly Bryan, who was grooming a poodle Friday afternoon at her store, Studio Pets. “To give it a name that people can’t pronounce, can’t spell, it’s just going to make things a lot more complicated. We just don’t need that in Los Angeles.”

Manochehr Bajoul of Studio Carpet said the change will hurt businesses such as his, which does not rely on a steady flow of repeat customers. “My customers are not like dry cleaning customers--they don’t come here every day, maybe once in five years.

“Our situation is very shaky now. Anything could hurt us,” Bajoul said.

Maps and telephone books won’t be updated right away to reflect any change, he said, and new customers will not know where to find his store.

Wachs should have asked the business owners what they thought before announcing his plans, said Bajoul, an Iranian immigrant. “We live here, not him. Here, I’m making my life. They should not hurt my life.”

But Wachs said renaming other streets in the Los Angeles area have not hurt business profits.

“I think this is something where, after it happens, they will look on it with great pride. It’ll bring distinction to the street. I wanted a street in my district, and I wanted a street in a prominent place. A blocklong street is more practical than changing all of Ventura Boulevard.”

Bajoul said he spent $3,000 in advertising last month, and if Sakharov Street becomes the name, he will have to spend more to advertise the change.

Echoing the opinion of some, Bajoul said he respects Sakharov but added, “I respect (Soviet President Mikhail) Gorbachev, but if Gorbachev died, I don’t want his name here.”

One store owner, who asked not to be identified, said, “I want to get rid of Joel Wachs. Why Andrei Sakharov? There are many people who do a lot of good in this world, and they are not politicians.”

Patrons along Ventura Place had mixed opinions, with one calling the proposal “silly,” but others voiced support.

“It’s a nice way to pay tribute to a great man,” said Rose Cota, waiting at the Laundromat for her clothes to dry. She called Sakharov a “scientist who could have lived a life of luxury but fought for human rights and freedom.”