FACTIONS VOCAL ON VALLEY REDEVELOPMENT.

Byline: Jason Kandel Staff Writer

PACOIMA - A contentious meeting of the Community Redevelopment Agency on Monday night attracted a crowd of renters, landlords, business owners and community leaders with widely differing opinions on a proposed redevelopment project for the northeast San Fernando Valley.

City Councilman Alex Padilla told the crowd he supports the project and called for work to get under way soon to boost the local economy.

Supporters said the areas of Sylmar, Pacoima, Arleta, Lake View Terrace and Sun Valley need an infusion of state and local funds that could provide better housing, jobs, business, and entertainment opportunities for the low-income communities.

``We need the right hammer to drive in the right nail into the right stud,'' Padilla told the standing-room-only crowd of residents at the first meeting to be hosted on the project by a CRA Project Area Committee at the Neighborhood Legal Services Center on Van Nuys Boulevard.

A bomb threat early in the session brought a contingent of Los Angeles police officers who watched over the event.

Padilla said that even though he supports the redevelopment effort, he understands the differing opinions.

Opponents expressed fears that property within the district would be taken from owners through eminent domain and that the redevelopment money would be diverted from more important social needs.