STUDIO CITY : Ventura Blvd. Panel Urges More Dialogue

Better communication is needed to improve sometimes “adversarial” relations between Los Angeles City Council aides concerned with planning issues and a citizens committee seeking to revamp Ventura Boulevard, according to the committee chairman.

At a board meeting Monday night, Jeff Brain, chairman of the Ventura Boulevard Specific Plan Review Board, suggested to a group of council staffers that they attend the panel’s meetings on a more frequent--perhaps quarterly--basis. The board meets twice a month.

“What happens is that they hear what we’ve been doing secondhand, or we will hear that they are opposing something that we’re for,” Brain said after the meeting. “When two parties are doing business, they should communicate.”

The two sides express similar goals for the 17-mile stretch of Ventura Boulevard from Woodland Hills to Studio City: to spruce up its appearance, make the street more pedestrian-oriented and improve traffic flow.

The City Council appointed the board in March, 1992, to monitor the specific plan’s feasibility and effectiveness. The 1991 specific plan is the area’s premier planning document, setting forth guidelines for development and improvements along the boulevard.

Planning aides said that due to time constraints and obligations to other planning areas, they will most likely be able to attend only those meetings dealing with major projects or their particular district area.

“The reason why we have the (board) is to be the eyes and ears for the council person,” to keep the council informed about how the plan is working, said Tom Henry, planning deputy for Councilman Joel Wachs.

Cindy Miscikowski, chief deputy for Councilman Marvin Braude, agreed that increased dialogue is desirable but denied that relations between the deputies and the board have been contentious.