Arleta : Dedication Celebrates Landscaping Project

The “Welcome to Arleta” sign was erected on the southeastern corner of Branford Street and Woodman Avenue two years ago.

Located on a desolate wedge of dirt at the edge of town, the sign seemed more a lonely beacon of bleakness beyond than a herald of welcome and warmth ahead.

But at an official dedication ceremony on Thursday, residents and elected officials celebrated the completion of a $5,000 landscaping project at the formerly barren, half-acre site.

With a combination of government grants and private donations, the plot has been transformed into a loamy garden, complete with melaleuca trees, white alder saplings, shrubs, flowers and grass.

“It looks just beautiful now,” said Pat Vincent, vice president of the Arleta Chamber of Commerce and Resident Assn.

The chamber held several fund-raisers, and businesses and private citizens in Arleta made donations totaling about $4,500 toward the project, Vincent said.

Those funds were combined with a $500 Urban Greening Grant provided by Southern California Gas Co. and Pacific Bell, and with contributions of plants and trees from local nurseries, to make the project possible, Vincent said.

Councilmen Joel Wachs, whose district includes Arleta, and Richard Alarcon, who has made urban beautification a priority in his neighboring council district, were present at the dedication ceremony, said a spokesman for Wachs.