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;
Elizabeth Pollock, Recording Secretary; Michelle Rudo, Treasurer; Casey Anderson,
Director and Membership Chair; Marlene Savage, Director; Aaron Bernardin, Director;
Steve Knight, Advisor.
Guests: Lydia Athan, Paul Davis, local residents; Kathryn Frengs, Field Deputy
for Councilman Bill Rosendahl; Kelton Kirby (engineer), Greg Pifer (contract
administration), Vahik Vartanians (Bureau of Engineering) from City of Los Angeles,
Department of Public Works; Marc Huffman (executive director, planning and entitlements)
and Sybil Buchanan (public relations) from Playa Vista.
Approval
of Minutes: The minutes of the July 10, 2006 meeting were reviewed and approved.
Approval
of Treasurer’s Report: Before the meeting, Treasurer Michelle Rudo circulated
the Transaction Detail Report for July and a Budget Summary Report comparing
the actual inflows and outflows with the budgeted amounts. These reports were
approved by the board.
Presentation
re Centinela Ave. Widening Project: Centinela will be widened six feet on the
west side, nine feet on the east, between Culver Blvd. and Washington Blvd..
The contract is for one year, and the work is scheduled to be finished by the
end of March 2007. Excel Paving was the lowest bidder, and their original start
date was delayed by 120 days because relocation of the utilities took longer
than expected.
When completed, there will be two northbound lanes of traffic, two southbound
lanes of traffic, a parking lane on each side and a left turn channelization
down the center. The east side of the road probably will be paved by the end
of September 2006. Repair of the west side of the road should go faster than
the east side because there are fewer driveways and sewer catchments.
The project is not moving as fast as it should, but there are few contractors
with the requisite expertise, and problems with the material delayed the work
by about two weeks.
When completed, there will be Chinese flame trees and streetlights along the
street. .
There is no incentive provided for early completion. There is a provision for
liquidated damages if the work is completed late but the contractor has a counterclaim
because its work was put on hold for four months while the utilities completed
their work. In addition, the Department of Water and Power made a late decision
to change the water lines.
The DRHNA expressed two main concerns – delay in emergency vehicles getting
to the area and the lack of workers on site for days at a time. Excavation was
due to begin on August 8 (and it did).
Kathryn Frengs will try to have a representative of Excel Paving attend our
September 11 board meeting and answer questions about the work schedule.
Presentation
re Status of Playa Vista Development:
Construction
Phase I is two-thirds complete (2000-2100 units). One-third of the residential
units (1000-1100 units) are still under construction. JAMDAT employees will
be moving into the glass commercial building at Lincoln and Jefferson. The Sunrise
assisted living facility is half leased. The new fire station is under construction.
“The Campus” is the east end of the property (starting at Centinela
and Jefferson). Lincoln Properties bought land for 820,000 square feet of commercial
space. The Spruce Goose hangar is still being used for filming. The Clippers
are about to finalize the plans for their training complex.
Area 1F runs from Centinela & Jefferson to the Clippers project, and as
soon as the Clippers or Lincoln Properties pulls a permit, that will trigger
the condition 125 that was to provide a parking remediation fund to the Del
Rey community.
Phase II was approved in September 2004. Playa Vista has been installing utilities
and building services. They must still comply with certain mitigation requirements.
They will be filing the final tract map soon.
In “The Village,” there will be 200,000 sq. feet of retail space,
175 apartments, a community center, office space.
The Phase II sewer system is being connected to the Jefferson Blvd. sewer line,
and that is why Jefferson Blvd. has been down to one lane for several months.
The work should be done in one week.
In September, widening of Jefferson by Phase II will begin so that the four
lanes of Jefferson Blvd. will run into the four lanes of Centinela Ave. without
narrowing to three lanes.
Negotiations with Department of Transportation are ongoing as to what should
be done about the parking lane on the south side of Jefferson Blvd. between
Inglewood Blvd. and the 405 freeway.
Playa Vista is also trying to do the improvements to the Sawtelle Blvd./Culver
Blvd. intersection now, while Caltrans is making its changes in that area.
George Gross expressed his concerns about the dirt and truck traffic generated
by the Phase II construction. The dirt is being brought to Phase II from the
Symantec project in Culver City. The “haul route approval” originally
called for the trucks to enter Playa Vista from Bristol Parkway, but the road
could not handle the weight. The trucks then went down Centinela rather than
Slauson. Question: How will the neighbors be compensated for the dirt and noise
that have been generated by the construction?
Proposed
Strip Club at 6905 Centinela Avenue
EAD Santa Nella LLC and Ernest J. Franceschi, Jr. have applied for permission
to operate a strip club on the former site of Camp’s Meats. No liquor
will be sold. However, the property is across the street from the area that
Playa Vista has designated as “Court Park.” The Zoning Administrator
decided that because that park will be open to the public, and it is within
500 feet of the proposed strip club, the club will not be given permission to
open.
The owners of the property have appealed the decision, and there will be a hearing
on Wednesday, August 16, 2006, at 4: 30 p.m. at the Henry Medina West L.A. Parking
Enforcement Facility, 2d Floor, Roll Call Room, 11214 West Exposition Blvd.,
Los Angeles, CA 90064.
We believe that having a strip club will require additional police presence
in the area. Therefore, Kathryn Frengs will try to get someone from Pacific
Division to attend the hearing and testify as to the effects on Pacific Division
police.
Shuttles
The Playa Vista beach shuttle and the Water Bus shuttle in Marina del Rey have
both been quite successful this year. The beach shuttle has two routes –
to Dockweiler Beach (8 a.m. -8 p.m. hourly) or to Marina del Rey/Venice Boardwalk
(hourly on the quarter hour). The shuttle runs to the Thursday concerts in Burton
Chace Park, and attendance is up at those concerts. Marc Huffman distributed
flyers with the shuttle schedules.
Other Parks
In Phase I, Playa Vista has completed: a larger dog park, tennis courts and
a barbecue area.
The sports park will be ready by the end of the year, and it will be available
for shared use by the elementary school that is being built.
The Village is slated to have four parks, three of which are shown on the first
tract map. One of the parks will be accessible from Centinela and Jefferson.
Methane
According to Marc Huffman, the city approved Playa Vista’s methane mitigation
system, but in September 2005, the court ruled that the City did not approve
Playa Vista’s dewatering systems before construction began. There will
be hearing to discuss Playa Vista’s dewatering systems on August 15, 2006
at Venice High School.
Police/Crime
Report: Minutes of July 9 meeting were distributed before the meeting. No August
meeting because the Llanes family is on vacation. Next meeting is September
13, 2006, and Mary Anderson of the Del Rey Neighborhood Council will attend
and share her notes with us.
Traffic
Committee: No meeting was held in July.
Newsletter:
Not yet ready. Meeting at Chris Nevil’s house on August 22, 2006, at 7
p.m. to review the articles we have and prepare text to go to the printer. Goal
is to have it ready for mailing by late September.
General Meeting: Scheduled for October 11, 2006, assuming keynote speaker Councilman
Bill Rosendahl can be available. Next preparation meeting is on August 24, 2006,
at 7 p.m. at the home of Marlene Savage.
Membership:
We are still checking into software programs. Casey Anderson heard back from
the Vice President of Sales and Marketing at WebLink International about the
membership software. Without any particulars, he estimated that their software
would cost $5000. Elizabeth A. Pollock is still trying to pin down which module
of Mas90 might help us to manage our database, but the contact is on vacation
until August 18.
Marketing Proposals
George Gross has gotten a list of single family homes and condominiums in the
Del Rey census tracts (4230, 4231, 4232, 4233, 4212, 4223, 4221, 4217, 4218,
4220). Some of these tracts extend outside the boundaries of Del Rey, but George
estimates that there are about 3900 homeowners in Del Rey, and the list is in
Excel format.
If we assume that printing will cost forty cents and postage will cost twenty
cents, a postcard mailing to these addresses will cost approximately $2400.
Elizabeth Pollock called two telephone directory companies to find out if we
could have an insert packages with the directories that are distributed to Del
Rey, but the companies distribute to a wider area and so we would need to pay
for advertising that would go to areas outside of Del Rey.
Del Rey Boundaries
According to Steve Knight, the boundaries of the DRHNA are supposed to contiguous
with those of the Del Rey General Plan boundaries. The 700 apartments and townhomes
along Ballona Creek, west of Home Depot, are part of the Playa Vista Homeowners
Association, although the apartment dwellers do not pay homeowners’ dues.
When we revise the DRHNA map to include Area A of the DRNC, we should also clarify
the location of the border between Del Rey and Playa Vista.
Student
Help
Elizabeth Pollock has contacted Venice High School about having students perform
community service by assisting us with organized our archives and about having
journalism students help us prepare and print the newsletter. She will need
to call back to talk to the teachers after school begins on September 5.
Website:
Nothing to report.
Del
Rey Neighborhood Council: Meeting presently set for August 10, 2006 at the Westchester
Community Building. However, the meeting may change to August 16 or 17. There
will be a safety meeting on August 21.
The market at Culver/Braddock/McConnell (by Ronnie’s) is seeking a liquor
license.
.
Culver City Liaison Report: (1) Culver City is considering redevelopment of
the properties on the west side of Jefferson Blvd/Sepulveda Blvd. between Slauson
and Sawtelle – Comp USA, Big Lots, El Pollo Loco, etc., but we have little
information other than articles in the local newspaper. (2) Demolition of the
U.S. Liquors building for the Centinela/Washington Blvd. redevelopment project
will occur soon. (3) We need to find the graffiti hotline number for Culver
City.
Pacific
Division Update: Tabled. Senior Lead Officers Heidi Llanes and Pete Llanes are
on vacation.
OLD/CONTINUING
BUSINESS
Problem with Trailers and Other Potentially Illegal Uses of Vehicles: Steve
Knight says the city has adopted an ordinance that restricts parking from 2
a.m. – 6 a.m., but he has not yet been able to get a copy of it.
Status
of Proposed Adult Cabaret at 6820 S. Centinela Ave.: See Playa Vista discussion
above.
Starbucks
at Jefferson and Centinela: The conditional use permit has been approved. The
construction permits are in process. Groundbreaking should be in about one month.
The landowner is now saying the escrow funds for soundproofing will not be released
until there is a signed lease with Starbucks. As that was not the agreement,
George Gross will discuss this with the landowner.
Board
potluck barbecue: Will be on Sunday, August 27 at 4 p.m. at the home of Wendy
Averrill and Marilee French. Family members are invited. Each guest should bring
whatever s/he wants to barbecue as well as a side dish.
Fundraising
5K run for local schools: On November 19, 2006, there will be a five kilometer
run to raise money for the four local elementary schools – Braddock, Stoner,
Playa del Rey and Short Avenue. The website for the run is www.care5K.org (Community
Annual Race Education). The organizer is Ha Roda, president of the Booster’s
Club at Playa del Rey Elementary. Contributors to the run will be able to deduct
their contributions because the run is being organized under the aegis of the
Playa Vista Booster Club, which has 501(c)(3) status. Originally, the plan was
to have the runners go from school to school, but the police department opposed
that route. Now the course will be on the private streets of Playa Vista. The
organizers of the run would appreciate it if we included an article about the
run in the newsletter. At the September 11 board meeting, we should also decide
what we are willing to do to support the run. Elizabeth Pollock suggested that
we might want to have a booth where we would hang our group’s banner and
distribute water bottles bearing our group’s logo. If we email the logo
to Ha Roda, she can list us on the website as a “Friend of CARE”
– ha@haroda.com This is the first time they have done this run, and they
are hoping it will be a good fundraiser.
Miscellaneous
Developments:
The first Mar Vista Farmer’s Market took place on Sunday, August 6, on
Grand View Ave. by the post office. It will be held each Sunday from now on.
The
permit for the kiosk at Braddock and Centinela expires in October. Workers have
been seen on the property, but it is unclear what is being done.
This
year’s National Night Out was well-organized but poorly attended. It began
at Venice High School because of the fatal shooting that occurred there in May
2006.
Housing
– Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is pushing for adoption of a
Billion Dollar Housing Bond on the November 7, 2006 ballot. Councilman Bill
Rosendahl has also issued a call for a moratorium on condominium conversions
in his district. Both issues will be addressed at the October General Meeting.
NEXT
MEETING: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2006
ADJOURNMENT: 9:20 P.M.