By Michael J. ARVIZU

Sunland-Tujunga residents welcomed their new neighborhood council on April 9, almost a month after elections were held to replace a council that most residents said did little to no work addressing community issues.

Public discord makes this new board a welcome sight and breath of fresh air for residents as they struggle to deal with issues plaguing the twin towns, located about five miles west of La Crescenta.

Questions about what to do with the burgeoning homeless population in and around Sunland Park, lack of new businesses along the Foothill Boulevard corridor, enforcement of the Foothill Corridor Specific Plan, and what should become of an old Kmart site, have become major issues in the last few years.

Residents say they have received little to no answers or solutions to these problems.

“That’s one of the main points: how are we going to do it?” said North Hollywood resident Sergio Soto, new neighborhood council stakeholder group representative and Tujunga Masonic Lodge grandmaster.

Some council members have promised transparency, while others have promised to enforce ordinances that have gone unenforced for some time.

“Code enforcement really means trying to respond to the residents’ complaints or their concerns within their immediate neighborhood,” said David Barron, new neighborhood council Region 1 representative. “That means anything from abandoned cars to illegal dumping and excessive noise.”

Barron believes the new neighborhood council will address these issues as well as issues surrounding lack of development in downtown, parking and overcrowding.

“We need that progress to remodel, renew,” Barrow said.

  Michael J ARVIZU