Project Foes Gain Larger Panel Majority

Critics of a controversial redevelopment project in North Hollywood gained a larger majority on a citizens’ advisory panel in elections this week.

The Project Area Committee, which has no legislative power, is made up of 25 property owners, tenants, business owners and others who can make recommendations on budgets and developments in the 750-acre redevelopment project.

On Tuesday, 10 new members were elected to the panel in a vote of residents within the project area. Two of the posts were left unfilled.

The election results increased from 14 to 19 the number of members who are also members of North Hollywood Concerned Citizens, a group critical of the redevelopment project. The group is particularly vehement about opposing a plan to extend the project until 2019 and lift a spending cap from $89 million to a maximum $535 million.

The project has generated controversy for years, particularly among businesses and homeowners who say the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency has little to show for spending millions in tax dollars.

Three members of the North Hollywood Concerned Citizens--Mildred Weller, Glen Hoiby and Jerry Day--have temporarily blocked the expansion project with a lawsuit that alleges the city violated state open meeting laws by limiting the amount of time opponents were allowed to speak during a hearing on the matter.