Cahuenga Pass May Be Cut From City

The head of the agency studying Valley cityhood recommended Friday that Cahuenga Pass be removed from the proposed city’s borders and that there should be a nine-month delay in the start of any municipal operations.

Larry Calemine, executive director of the Local Agency Formation Commission, made the recommendations in the first of a series of reports outlining the terms and conditions of a municipal divorce.

Many of the toughest issues, including the division of assets and liabilities, remain unresolved in the report sent Friday to LAFCO for consideration at its meeting Wednesday.

Calemine also recommended that a transition period for the new city be cut to 19 months from the three years proposed by secessionists, and that Los Angeles not be required to give a start-up loan to the new city.

Calemine said Cahuenga Pass residents have requested to be removed from the proposed Valley city, and proponents of a Hollywood city have sought to include the area in their boundaries.

“Fabulous,” said Joan Luchs of the Cahuenga Pass Neighborhood Assn. “I have always thought of the Cahuenga Pass as being the north end of Hollywood.”

Calemine also recommended that the starting date of the new city be delayed until July 1, 2003, to coincide with the start of Los Angeles’ fiscal year and thus avoid some cash-flow problems. If Valley secession is placed before voters, officials expect the issue would appear on the November ballot.

Calemine’s report also recommended that the secessionist group Valley VOTE provide LAFCO with three choices for the name of the proposed city by March 1 so they can be put on the ballot for a voter decision.

Calemine plans additional reports, which will address assets and liabilities, and revenue neutrality. His final report, due in April, will recommend whether the issue should go before voters.