EDITORIAL ZONE CHANGE PACOIMA CAN PROSPER WITHOUT STATE'S HELP.

WHAT happened? Just three months after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger agreed to change state law so that Pacoima and adjacent areas could retain their 20-year-old enterprise zone status, state officials dumped the Northeast Valley zone anyhow.

All they would say is that the San Fernando Valley's only economic enterprise zone did not score well on its application. And of the 16 enterprise zones across the state seeking renewal, it was the only one getting kicked out of the program.

What this means is that a significant tool to attract and retain business in the Pacoima area will be gone.

The Northeast Valley's enterprise zone status has been in jeopardy for a while due to the changing landscape of the area. As the city's real-estate boom pushed north, it transformed land previously available for commercial development, reducing the amount of developable commercial land as required for zone status before the law change.

Depending on how successful local politicians are in getting the Northeast Valley's status restored, this might be the end for the area's enterprise zone. But it shouldn't spell doom for any economic boom in Pacoima, not when the area is one of the few places in the city that has the space and potential for major development.

The politicians who fought to keep the enterprise zone -- and ultimately lost -- now have the opportunity to rethink and improve upon economic strategies in the Northeast Valley, balancing housing, industry and retail development.

The enterprise zone designation might be gone for good, but the city and state politicians won't be off the hook for working with the community and organizations such as the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley and the Valley Economic Development Corp. to build economically healthy diverse communities in the Northeast Valley.