Meeting Date: 03/14/06 06:30 PM
Meeting Type: Regular
Location: Will and Ariel Durant Library
7140 Sunset Boulevard at Detroit
Details: Outpost/Cahuenga West Area 5 Committee Meeting
Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
6:30 – 8:00 PM
Location: Will and Ariel Durant Library
7140 Sunset Boulevard at Detroit
Accessibility: Building is accessible to the handicapped.
Parking: Parking is available in a free off-street parking lot behind the library building as well as on street.
Food: Food will NOT be provided.
AGENDA
1. Introduction of Stakeholders
2. 7280 & 7288 Mulholland – Mulholland Scenic Parkway DRB hearing 3/16. Possible motion and vote.
3. Hollywood Community Plan Update – City Planning proposal to change conditions on R3 properties Highland-La Brea-Franklin-Hollywood. Possible motion and vote.
4. Hillside streets party/event ordinance proposal to limit number of such events annually on narrow hillside streets. Possible motion and vote.
5. Request for expedited replacement of water line on Outpost Drive to facilitate repaving. Possible motion and vote
6. Public Comment – items not on the agenda
7. Adjournment
MINUTES for March 14 Area 5 Committee Meeting
Item 1: Meeting was called to order at 6:30PM.
10 stakeholders were in attendance. All were residents of the area.
Item 2. Everyone felt the proposed houses were too large. Some felt that no development should be allowed.
Motion: The Area 5 Committee of the Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council urges the Mulholland Scenic Parkway Design Review Board to deny the request for approval of two 5,000 square foot homes at 7280 and 7288 Mulholland Drive for the following reasons:
* The size of the homes and the lot coverages are incompatible with the homes in the immediate vicinity of the proposed homes. The average size home in the area is 2,700 (with a 400 square foot garage, 3,100 square feet) and the lot coverage is 14%- compared to the requested 5,000 square feet (61% larger than the surrounding homes) and 30% lot coverage (double the average of surrounding homes). If approved, these homes would loom over those below, and
* The homes are incompatible with the adjacent Runyon Canyon Park in that they will significantly alter the view from the park and transform an open green hillside vista into a wall of urban development.
It is requested that the homes be reduced in size to no more than 4,000 square feet ( 29% above the average of nearby homes) and that the proposed basements included in the homes be precluded from being converted into habitable space in the future.
The proposed motion passed 6-2.
Item 3. Motion: The Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Councilopposes the proposed upzoning of multi-family R4 properties in the Hollywood Community Plan by the removal of the “Q” Qualified Condition which currently limits density to one dwelling unit per 600 square feet of lot area. We are opposed to the 50% density increase that the City Planning Department has proposed, by increasing the density to one unit per 400 square feet of lot area, in the areas adjacent to Franklin Avenue and Highland Avenue (designated Subarea 3:1A of the Draft Hollywood Community Plan, February 2006). We do not feel that additional density can be accommodated in Subarea 3:1A due to the already existing traffic congestion along Franklin and Highland Avenues and the lack of plans to reduce this congestion in the future.
The proposed motion passed unanimously.
Item 4. Discussion centered around the number of events that should be allowed and the feasibility of making the ordinance enforceable.
People felt that multiple large events, even if partly for charity, were a violation of the R1 zoning, since they constituted running a business. It was agreed that the motion should be forwarded to the full HHWNC Board with the limit set at one event to start the discussion and with the recommendation that the City Attorney’s office needs to craft the legal language. Motion: We request that Tom LaBonge propose an ordinance to the Los Angeles City Council that will restrict the number of large events that require any kind of City permit (charity or any other type) at single-family homes located on streets in residential neighborhoods with hillside streets that are
subject to the red flag warning day parking restrictions. The maximum number of such events shall be limited to one event day in any given calendar year. The City shall not issue any permits to property owners or event organizers for events at any property subject to this ordinance above the limits established herein. Should any property subject to this ordinance be used for more than one event day in a calendar year, the property owner shall be liable to a fine, with the fine doubled for each subsequent event, to be assessed against the property taxes owed on that property for the calendar year in which the violation(s) occurred.
The proposed motion passed unanimously.
Item 5. Motion: The Area 5 Committee of the Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council requests that the Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council adopt a motion requesting that the Department of Water and Power expedite the replacement of the main water line under Outpost Drive, which was installed in the 1920’s and is in a bad state of repair and constantly springing leaks necessitating emergency repairs. Outpost Drive is on the City’s priority list for repaving this year and, as such, the replacement of the water line should be a high priority for the DWP to complete this Spring prior to the repaving project so that the newly repaved Outpost Drive will not be torn up for repairs or water line replacement.
The proposed motion passed unanimously.
No further discussion was held.
Adjourned at 8:00 PM.