VALLEY RESIDENTS LOBBY OVER SCHOOL EXPANSION.

Byline: David Baker Staff Writer

Employees and owners of several businesses in a mall proposed as a school site at Van Nuys Boulevard and Parthenia Street worried Thursday about the prospect of being forced out.

``It would be devastating,'' said Steven Meza, 20, who with his older brother and father run a nightclub and a Latin artists record label from two buildings on the lot.

``We would have to move two locations so that would be a double hit for us,'' said his brother, Matias Meza Jr., 24.

The mall is one of numerous properties proposed as sites for 13 new schools or school expansions, five of them in the San Fernando Valley. A number of the sites would involve eminent-domain eviction for residents and businesses.

A meeting Thursday of the Los Angeles Unified School District board's facilities and management committee was packed with about 50 property owners and residents lobbying for and against the proposed sites.

``You're talking about single-family homes with residents who've been there since Pearl Harbor,'' said Marilyn Carney, whose Bessemer Street home occupies part of a site being considered for a school.

Others said they just wanted the process to be fair.

Sam Mavros moved into his home on Ben Avenue, next to Victory Boulevard elementary school, in 1973. All five of his children attended the school.

Mavros said he could see for himself the school has become overcrowded. With the district considering his home to make room for expanding the school, he said he just hoped they would pay an equitable price for his property.

``I'm all for kids, and if that means taking my house, that's tough, but I can understand,'' he said. ``But it's terribly expensive And that scares me.''

About 15 North Hollywood homeowners, including Carney, lobbied the committee to place a new elementary school on a block occupied by an abandoned police station at Lankershim Boulevard and Tiara Street. Building there would involve taking eight houses and 123 apartment units, but would spare other homes nearby.

Committee members and district staffers agreed it was the best site to pursue, for now. School board member Caprice Young, who represents the area and had worked with the residents, said she liked placing a school next to the old police station, which the city plans to convert into a senior center.

CAPTION(S):

Map

Map: Proposed New School Sites

1. Rayen St. and Burnet Ave.

2. Van Nuys Blvd. and Parthenia St.

3. Van Nuys Blvd. and Beachy Ave.

4. Tiara St. and Lankershim Blvd.