NEIGHBORHOOD SECEDES FROM L.A.

Byline: Phillip W. Browne Daily News Staff Writer

Along a secluded cul-de-sac lined with lush trees, today is historic: Residents of the 10 homes officially will move from the city of Los Angeles to the city of Beverly Hills.

They don't need moving vans. These are a band of successful secessionists.

``We were all elated when this happened. Knowing it's over is quite a thrill,'' said Marie-France Salaun, a longtime resident of Hillgreen Drive.

The homeowners of Hillgreen Drive, near Pico Boulevard and Century Park East, had complained for years that police and fire crews were too slow to find their homes because they are cut off from Los Angeles by Beverly Hills streets.

And then a decade ago, Salaun's 66-year-old husband, Al, died after paramedics had difficulty finding the house.

So the residents took up the fight not for independent cityhood but for annexation to nearby Beverly Hills, the nation's most celebrated city of high incomes.

``It seems like it takes a catastrophe for these things to happen, and they have,'' said Abe Knobel, the resident who started the campaign to secede from Los Angeles. ``One person has died, and a fire along our street could have gotten out of control quickly.''

It took more than a decade of lobbying for residents to persuade Beverly Hills to claim the tail end of their secluded street.

The agreement required property owners to pay $32,500 per home to Beverly Hills for expenses associated with the change, Los Angeles city Legislative Analyst Jim Krakowski said.

The fee, which homeowners happily paid, represents buying into a glamorous town with higher property values as well as municipal costs for changes in utilities, legal fees and services.

The Beverly Hills City Council approved the annexation earlier this month, nine years after Los Angeles and the county Local Agency Formation Commission agreed to let these people go.

The secession comes at the same time that Los Angeles is battling Valley Voters Organized Toward Empowerment over the possibility of the 1.3 million residents of the San Fernando Valley seceding.

``This 10-home annexation is not even close to the issues involved in the Valley,'' Krakowski said. ``That's comparing apples and oranges.''

Audrey Arlington, a senior planner for Beverly Hills, said city officials originally questioned the annexation because they felt the residents should have bought homes in Beverly Hills if they wished to live there. They feared the exposure of Pico Boulevard and its businesses to the city boundary would cause more traffic and noise complaints that Beverly Hills would need to handle.

But the deal became more attractive when the residents agreed to pay for the annexation of a nearby alley called Heath Avenue.

The alley runs behind dozens of Beverly Hills homes but was under Los Angeles jurisdiction, which required homeowners to get parking permits in Los Angeles.

``We felt, and those residents felt, that the alley would be safer if it were a part of Beverly Hills,'' Arlington said. ``That was the single most compelling issue for us to go forward.''

Krakowski said Los Angeles usually ignores the handfuls of requests for property adjacent to Beverly Hills to be detached from Los Angeles and annexed to the more glamorous city. The proposals seldom make sense, he said.

``Everybody wants to live in Beverly Hills, and that's not a reason for us to act on those requests,'' Krakowski said. ``In this case, police and fire (officials) agreed that getting to these homes causes confusion. That made sense.''

Knobel and other homeowners united in 1989 when Salaun's husband collapsed in a diabetic coma and Los Angeles paramedics were confused about how to get to the cul-de-sac, Knobel said.

Salaun's husband died after he reached the hospital.

``He was in bad health then, but I think if the paramedics (had been) able to get there quicker, he would not have had the complications and would not have died so soon,'' Salaun said.

Knobel maintains that the annexation was never about money. Critics and some Beverly Hills city officials dismissed it as an attempt by the Los Angeles homeowners to gain perks such as increased property values and access to Beverly Hills schools.

``The whole reason for this is fire and life safety,'' Knobel said. ``Our gain is in our safety.''

The annexation was the 14th by Beverly Hills since it was incorporated in 1914. There are about 85 properties that straddle the Los Angeles-Beverly Hills boundaries.

The Hillgreen Drive homes will eventually be hooked up to Beverly Hills' water and power sources, but it was unclear if there would be any change in the utility rates. Residents will have to deal with the school district directly to see if their children will be allowed to attend classes in Beverly Hills.

Those possible headaches and costs don't bother them.

``We're willing to deal with any increased costs - and with the schools,'' Knobel said.

CAPTION(S):

photo, map

PHOTO (color) Without leaving home, Abe Knobel and nearby neighbors are moving to Beverly Hills.

Andy Holzman/Daily News

Map: Streets seceding into Beverly Hills

Daily News