STUDIO CITY : Street Repair Work May Begin in 6 Weeks

Work on street repairs promised by the developer of a new mini-mall at the traffic-choked intersection of Ventura and Laurel Canyon boulevards in Studio City could begin within six weeks, a city official said Wednesday.

“The plans should be approved within two weeks,” said Tom Henry, planning deputy for Los Angeles City Councilman Joel Wachs. “And after that, it would not be unreasonable to think that they could get started within a month.”

Henry said he was encouraged by the tenor of a meeting Wednesday that included representatives from the mall developer, The Arba Group.

“More progress has been made on this project in the last three weeks than in the past three years,” he said. “Things are really moving along.”

The mall has been the site of several protests in recent weeks by residents angry that a store was allowed to open in the otherwise vacant mall in April, before the developer installed additional lanes in northbound Laurel Canyon Boulevard to ease traffic created by mall patrons. The city has since ruled that no more temporary permits would be issued to would-be occupants of the mall until the improvements have begun.

Ira Handelman, a spokesman for The Arba Group who has been in ongoing negotiations with the city, said although he too was encouraged by Wednesday’s meeting, he could not say when construction would begin. “Our goal is to have construction complete by the end of the year,” he said. “When it will start, I can’t say.” Handelman, however, is at odds with the city’s ruling that no more permits be issued until construction has begun.

“That we don’t agree with,” he said. “But we’re trying to work everything out.”