CITIES STUDY MERITS OF SUBREGIONAL PLANNING COUNCIL.

Byline: R.A. Hutchinson Daily News Staff Writer

Five cities in western Los Angeles County are considering forming a subregional planning council to investigate traffic and population trends common to all of them.

City councils in Agoura Hills, Calabasas and Hidden Hills already have approved the concept on a tentative basis, while Westlake Village and Malibu officials have yet to vote.

``There are some advantages to dealing with issues as a block rather than as individual cities,'' said David Adams, city manager of Agoura Hills. ``The biggest advantage, the way I see it, is that we may have a better chance of competing for transportation dollars.''

Adams said the money could be used to develop public transportation, make street repairs and project population growth and its potential impact on regional infrastructure.

``Unfortunately, road deterioration doesn't stop at city limits,'' Adams said.

Malibu City Manager David Carmany said staff is recommending City Council approve the concept when it meets in June.

Ray Taylor, city manager for Westlake Village, said he expects to bring the issue before City Council next month, as well.

``We're right on the border. We have a great deal in common with Thousand Oaks to our west in Ventura County. But we're also closely tied to what happens in Los Angeles County,'' Taylor said.

Both Agoura Hills and Westlake Village - because they are adjacent Ventura County - now participate as members of the Ventura Council of Governments, an existing coalition that looks at growth issues in Ventura County. Adams and Taylor said their cities will have to evaluate whether to drop from VCOG and participate in the new proposed group.

``Most of the issues with VCOG and our involvement have been minimal at best,'' Taylor said. ``We're going to be recommending (the new panel) be strongly considered by City Council.''

The proposal for forming the coalition comes from the Southern California Association of Governments, which coordinates issues between 184 cities in Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties.

Al Fuentes, manager of member services for SCAG, said the association has recently revamped how it approaches regional issues, shifting to a ``bottom-up'' planning method. The formation of subregional planning areas makes administration and cooperation easier.

Currently there are 13 self-defined subregions in the six-county district.

``An area we hadn't looked into was this part of Los Angeles County,'' Fuentes said. ``As a formal group they are eligible to request resources for their area.''

Fuentes said an informal organization, the Las Virgenes Malibu Conejo Council, already exists in which the five cities already participate. He believes an obvious transition can take place, making the council a formal sub-group of SCAG.

``A subregion will improve the regional and subregional planning process,'' he said.