DEL REY HOMEOWNERS & NEIGHBORS ASSOCIATION
BOARD MEETING OF APRIL 9th, 2007

Italicized remarks are post-meeting comments by the Recording Secretary.

Roll Call and Introduction of Guests: Janice Santos, Parliamentarian; Chris Nevil, President; George Gross, 1st VP and Webmaster; Wendy Averill, 2d VP; Michelle Rudo, Treasurer; Elizabeth Pollock, Recording Secretary; Marlene Savage, Director; Casey Anderson, Director & Membership Chair; Aaron Bernardin, Director; Mary M. Anderson, Director; Steve Knight, Advisor.
Guests: Donald Dombrowski; Gail Sharp of Venice Japanese Community Center; Devin Santos;Lucy Mendez; Rafael Muniz and Cynthia Eppeldauer of Archstone Smith; and David Herbst of MWW, which is helping Archstone Smith with its community outreach.

Approval of Minutes: The minutes of the March 5, 2007 board meeting were reviewed and approved.
On April 14, 2007, the approved minutes were sent to George Gross for posting on the website..

Police and Crime Report: The new Senior Lead Officer, Mr. Drake Madison, will attend the May 2007 board meeting.

NEW BUSINESS
Archstone Smith is the new developer proposed for the 4.93 acre property at 5550 Grosvenor Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90066, which is in the County section of Del Rey. The parcel is generally bounded by Centinela Avenue and Juniette Street to the east, Jefferson Blvd. to the south, Grosvenor Blvd. to the west and Beatrice Street to the north.
Archstone plans to build 218 residential rental units. (The previous developer, Standard Pacific, had planned to build “for sale” units.) Archstone will provide 448 parking spaces, although only 436 are required. There will be a clubhouse, business center, fitness center, pool, spa and landscaped courtyards. Ten per cent of the units will be workforce housing. Half of the units will be one bedroom and are expected to rent for $2000 per month. The two bedroom units will rent for about $2600 per month.
There will be a traffic signal at Grosvenor and Jefferson, and traffic will enter the property from Grosvenor and the residents will park in a structure that will front on the alley that is behind the apartment buildings that front on Jefferson Blvd.. The north side of the complex is next to single family residences, so the part of the building closest to the houses will be two stories and then rise to four stories. The project probably will be surrounded by a perimeter fence. There will be no retail at the project. The environmental impact report process will occur in late 2007. Groundbreaking will be in 2009.
We pointed out some of the traffic and parking problems that could be anticipated, e.g. the limited access from Grosvenor, the displacement of the 100 Chiat Day employees who presently park on the property. We also would like to see more green space offered for use by local residents.
Questions: (1) Will the Fire Department require that the Grosvenor cul-de-sac be opened? (2) Would Archstone contribute to a fund to improve the parking situation on Jefferson between Centinela and Mesmer? (3) Are the existing sewer and water systems adequate to handle the development? (4) Any design features that promote sustainability? (5) Could a greenscape be put on top of the parking structure? (6) Would they want us to cosponsor a meeting with the residents in the single family homes on the north side? .
The zoning will need to be changed to R-4-DP- High Density Residential from the current R-3-DP (existing church and parking) and R-1 (Single Family Residence lot).
Archstone Smith has a traffic consultant (Raggio?) who is analyzing 10-15 intersections near the project.
The project will yield $370,000 in Quimby Funds. We would rather have land, rather than cash, but the developer claims that in order to make more land available, the project would have to be higher. Any way to block the zoning change and get the entire property (4.93 acres) for a park?
I have been told that residents of the homes nearby would strongly support such an effort.
When Home Depot sold the former U.S. Postal Service property to Blackstone, there were no restrictions in the contract regarding use of that land for a park.

CONTINUING BUSINESS

Traffic Committee: Tabled.

Newsletter: Was posted as a PDF document on the website on April 8, 2007. The printer needs to revise the membership application template for the next issue so that the dues rate is stated correctly. Mary Anderson (editor) got biographies from about half of the board. Michelle Rudo expressed reluctance about having personal information published. We need articles for the fall issue.

Membership: We got $70 in dues at the General Meeting. More than 80 people were at the General Meeting, and we had a quorum for the election.

Website: Photos of the Spring General Meeting will be posted there.

General Meeting: Marlene Savage thanked Chris Nevil for lining up the speakers. The meeting was well-run, but we should consider moving back to Playa del Rey Elementary after that school has finished repairing its auditorium. Marina del Rey Middle School’s auditorium is difficult to find. Another alternate might be Short Avenue Elementary School. We also need to decide if we should stay with the moderator/written questions format. Some people in the audience thought that format limited public debate of the issues. There was no coverage of the meeting in The Argonaut, but we got a good article in the Culver City News and in the Daily News.
The board does not approve minutes of the General Meeting, but Recording Secretary Elizabeth A. Pollock prepared informal minutes, and these have been sent to Webmaster George Gross for posting on the website.

Del Rey Neighborhood Council: Next meeting on Thursday, April 12, 2007, at the Westchester Community Room. An “executive session” at 6 p.m. will discuss how the DRNC’s funds should be spent; the session will be open to the public.
Community Events: (1) Dr. Lucy Jones of Cal Tech will be speaking about earthquakes on Saturday, April 28, 2007, at 6 p.m. at Roberts Hall, Loyola Marymount University; (2) April 28/29 will be a National Day of Volunteering, and volunteers will be cleaning the kitchen and break rooms at the Pacific Division police station.(3) The legal status of the strip club proposal is unknown.

Culver City Liaison: We still need someone to fill this position.

Council District 11: Field Deputy Nicole Velasquez reported in writing that: (1) the Caltrans gate at Centinela Ave. and the 90 freeway is installed and locked; (2) the Centinela Ave. street lights were to be on by April 3 (no one present knew if they were on); (3) Left turn arrows from Culver Blvd. to the 90 Freeway westbound and eastbound have been approved, but CalTrans is still awaiting a funding source and must assign a crew to do the work; (4) POWER is lobbying to get a DASH route in Del Rey (see **); (5) Nicole Velasquez has asked Cal Trans to investigate the situation at Alberta and the 90 Freeway and to consider adding more time to the green light for the freeway onramp so that people won’t make U-turns at Alberta.
**The Department of Transportation created 22 DASH routes, none of which is in Council District 11. DASH is operating at a deficit. The DRNC Planning Committee has expressed support for a DASH line, and the DRNC Transportation Committee also supports the idea. According to the 2000 census, 30 per cent of Del Rey’s residents are low income.
Pacific Division Update: New Senior Lead Officer Drake Madison will introduce himself at our May board meeting.
Officer Elections: We have an open directorship, and we have asked Gail Sharp if she would be interested in serving. She has not yet made a decision.

Playa Vista Parking Trust: The money is now in a private account. Can we pressure Playa Vista to contribute more money to mitigate the parking problem on Jefferson Blvd.? We also must lean on the apartment owners who are using existing parking spaces for storage. Can we get the Clippers and Starbucks to contribute toward mitigation of the parking problem?
What would it cost to widen Jefferson Blvd. or to narrow the median and reduce the speed limit in order to recover the approx. 41 parking spots that will be eliminated.
Illegal posting: Call 311 to report illegal posting of bills. Wendy Averill just tears down the illegal signs.

DRHNA Budget: Our inflows for 2006 were $366 below budget. (Dues were $4440 for the year.) Our outflows for 2006 were $1300 below budget, primarily because we only printed one newsletter in 2006. Because first class postage will be increasing on May 15, 2007, it was moved, seconded and approved that the printing and postage section of the 2006 budget shall be increased by 15 per cent for 2007. All other budget categories shall remain unchanged. It was moved

NEXT MEETING: MONDAY, MAY 7, 2007

ADJOURNMENT: 8:50 P.M.