Activist Says Panel Exceeded Authority

An Encino homeowner activist has charged that the citizens panel overseeing implementation of a 20-year plan to overhaul Ventura Boulevard has often acted beyond its legal scope.

Speaking at Tuesday’s meeting of the Ventura Boulevard Specific Plan Review Board, Homeowners of Encino President Gerald A. Silver alleged that several recent actions and motions by the politically appointed board seek to dismantle the plan.

For example, Silver said, a motion to introduce a moratorium on street widening--a key part of the plan’s aim to ease traffic along the boulevard--is out of order.

“It’s not in your purview to put moratoriums on anything,” Silver told board members during a public comment period.

Newly elected board Chairman Jeff Brain said Silver’s complaints would be forwarded to the city attorney for interpretation, but said he believed that the board had acted within its charter.

Created in 1991 to oversee implementation of the $222-million plan to control growth, ease traffic and enhance neighborhoods along the boulevard, the review board’s power is limited to setting priorities for city departments’ work on the plan. But the panel’s recommendations carry weight at City Hall.