ADULT BUSINESSES DRAW CITY SCRUTINY.

Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer

Alarmed by a proliferation of adult entertainment businesses in the San Fernando Valley and elsewhere, the Los Angeles City Council agreed Wednesday to study the feasibility of toughening restrictions on their operation and location.

The preliminary step was taken at a meeting of the City Council at the Encino Community Center, just a few miles from where two new adult businesses have been proposed on Oxnard Street in Van Nuys.

Nearly 200 people attended the meeting, which started more than an hour late. Council members explained they were caught in the traffic gridlock of the 101 and 405 freeway interchange.

Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski said she hoped the council would be more sympathetic to efforts to get the city to fix problems at the troublesome interchange.

``The council has experienced something that had a lot of notoriety - that is, the interchange of the 101-405 freeways,'' she said.

In addition to the adult entertainment issue, some residents urged the council to take stronger steps to reduce noise at Van Nuys Airport, while business leaders warned that such action would harm the area's economy.

The council agreed to have the Police Department and City Attorney's Office look at possible new restrictions on adult businesses, including the expansion of the definition of adult businesses banned from within 500 feet of residences, parks and schools.

In addition, Miscikowski proposed that the ordinance require all adult entertainment businesses outside the 500-foot prohibited area to obtain special permits that involve public hearings and allow the city to set conditions on the operation of those businesses.

``Adult entertainment businesses are mushrooming in Los Angeles,'' she said. ``With these businesses can come serious problems such as added crime and the deterioration of the neighborhoods where they're located.''

City officials estimate that there are more than 100 adult entertainment businesses in Los Angeles, with new ones opening every month.

In other action, the City Council voted to create a task force with county, state and federal officials to coordinate the expansion and operation of the San Fernando Valley's government center in Van Nuys.

The city is planning to have a developer erect a 200,000-square-foot office building in Van Nuys that would contain city offices consolidated from their current locations all over the Valley.

Miscikowski also won council approval Wednesday of a motion to direct the city Department of Water and Power to expedite negotiations with the school district toward sale of the Van Nuys Utility Center so that a school can be built on the site.

The proposal calls for using the site at 6550 Van Nuys Blvd. for a primary center, which would serve 300 children in kindergarten through second grade.