Meeting Date: 02/20/13 06:30 PM
Meeting Type: Regular
Location: Woman’s Club of Hollywood 1749 N. La Brea, LA, CA 90046
Details:
HOLLYWOOD HILLS WEST NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL
BOARD MEETING AGENDA
February 20, 2013 – 6:30 pm
Directions: South of Franklin and North of Hollywood Blvd. – Accessibility: Building is accessible through entrance at rear door. Parking: Free Parking is available behind the Woman’s Club on the upper level of the parking lot.
The public is requested to fill out a “Speaker Card” to address the Board on any item of the agenda prior to the Board taking action on an item. Comments from the public on non-agenda and agenda items will be heard during the Public Comment Period and, within the discretion of the presiding officer of the Board, when the respective item is being considered. Comments from the public on other matters not appearing on the Agenda that is within the Board’s subject matter jurisdiction will be heard during the Public Comment period. Public comment is limited to 2 minutes per speaker unless waived by the presiding officer of the Board. Agenda is posted for public review: on bulletin boards at the top and bottom of Runyon Canyon Park, and electronically on the Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council website ww.hhwnc.org and on the Department Of Neighborhood Empowerment (www.lacityneighborhoods.com). As a covered entity under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the City of Los Angeles does not discriminate on the basis of disability and upon request, will provide reasonable accommodation to ensure equal access to its programs, services, and activities. Sign language interpreters, assistive listening devices, or other auxiliary aids and/or services may be provided upon request. To ensure availability of services, please make your request at least 3 business days (72 hours) prior to the meeting you wish to attend by contacting the Neighborhood Council Project Coordinator at 213-485-1360 or e-mail to [email protected].
POSSIBLE ACTION, INCLUDING A BOARD MOTION AND
VOTING ON THE MOTION.
PROCESS FOR RECONSIDERATION: The Board may reconsider and amend its action on items listed on the agenda if that reconsideration takes place immediately following the original action or at the next regular meeting. The Board, on either of these two days, shall: (1) Make a Motion for Reconsideration and, if approved, (2) hear the matter and Take an Action. If the motion to reconsider an action is to be scheduled at the next meeting following the original action, then two items shall be placed on the agenda for that meeting: (1) A Motion for Reconsideration on the described matter and (2) a Proposed Action should the motion to reconsider be approved. A motion for reconsideration can only be made by a Board member who has previously voted on the prevailing side of the original action taken. If a motion for reconsideration is not made on the date the action was taken, then a Board member on the prevailing side of the action must submit a memorandum to the Secretary identifying the matter to be reconsidered and a brief description of the reason(s) for requesting reconsideration at the next regular meeting. The aforesaid shall all be in compliance with the Ralph M. Brown Act.
AGENDA
1. Call to order by President, Anastasia Mann
2. Roll call by Treasurer Michael Meyer
3. Minutes – Review and approve Board minutes from January 16, 2013 meeting (Vote) (5 minutes)
4. President’s Report by Anastasia Mann (20 minutes)
ii. Mayor’s Office – Fabiola Vilchez, Central Area Director – Budget Survey
iii. CD4 –Sharon Shapiro, Field Deputy, Office of Councilmember Tom LaBonge
iv. CD13 – Angela Motta, Field Deputy, Office of Council President Eric Garcetti
v. LAPD
vi. LAFD
b. Mike Feuer, Candidate for Los Angeles City Attorney
c. Presentation by Gabriel Kramer, Takethemdown.org and discussion re digital billboards. MOTION AND VOTE.
d. LA Bike Plan EIR – The City Planning Department has released the Draft EIR for the first year of projects included in the 2010 Bicycle Master Plan that require environmental clearance. The Draft EIR can be found on the City’s website at http://cityplanning.lacity.org/eir/BicyclePlan/DEIR/Bike%20Plan%20Draft%20EIR.html.
In the HHWNC area, the most significant proposal in the proposed plan is the addition of bicycle lanes on Cahuenga East and West and Lankershim Boulevard. In order to add bike lanes to these roadways, existing vehicular travel lanes will need to be removed. Written comments on the Draft EIR should be submitted to the City by March 4, 2013 or they can be presented verbally at a public hearing to be held on Thursday, February 21 at North Hollywood Regional Library, 5211 Tujunga Ave, North Hollywood, CA 91601.
ii. MOTION AND VOTE on attached motion.
e. Community business
f. Confirm next meeting date: March 20th.
5. Vice President’s Report by Orrin Feldman (10 minutes)
6. Treasurer’s Report by Michael Meyer (10 minutes)
7. Secretary’s Report by Kathy Bañuelos (5 minutes)
8. Parliamentarian’s Report by Robert Mott (5 minutes)
9. Committee Reports (40 minutes)
b. AREA COMMITTEES
Background information: The City of Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department (RAP) owns the approximately half acre park on Franklin Avenue at Sycamore Drive; the Dorothy J and Benjamin B Smith Park. The park basically consists of a grassy area with some benches. RAP is about to construct an attractive fence around the park that will secure it in the evenings. The Outpost Homeowners Association wants to work with RAP and others in the Hollywood community to activate this underutilized park. Outdoor exercise equipment has been installed in numerous parks in Los Angeles and can be directly purchased from one of the City’s vendors for installation by RAP in the park. It costs approximately $3,000 per piece of equipment. Adding outdoor exercise equipment can be done relatively easily and would serve many residents of Hollywood. The addition of a playground for children may also be pursued, but that is a more costly endeavor on the order of magnitude of $100,000-200,000 and requires more elaborate construction with foundations to make it safe for kids to play. RAP will assist us with the park design and landscape issues. The Outpost HOA Board has approved a contribution of $5,000 toward the exercise equipment. HHWNC’s contribution toward the purchase of the outdoor exercise equipment will allow the installation of a full range of exercise machines and will be the first step in turning this park into a community asset.
iii. Reports by Committee Chairs in attendance (Optional)
10. Public Comments – Comments from the public on agenda items and non-agenda items within the Board’s subject matter jurisdiction. Public comments are limited to 2 minutes per speaker.
11. Old Business
12. New Business
13. Adjournment
Motion for Agenda Item d (ii)
Motion: The Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council submits the following comments on the City of Los Angeles 2010 Bicycle Plan First Year of the First Five-Year Implementation Strategy Draft EIR:
- We remain supportive of the concept of expanding modal options in the City of Los Angeles transportation network, particularly with regard to bicycling, but feel it must been done in a balanced and safe way.
- Within the boundaries of HHWNC, the primary bicycle facilities proposed in the DEIR are on Cahuenga East and West and on Lankershim Boulevard.
- We find the project description to be misleading and difficult for the public to understand. The fact that a southbound travel lane will be removed from Cahuenga West between Barham Boulevard and the Pilgrimage Bridge is not clearly stated on page 3-11, nor depicted on Figure 3-5, where only the lanes at intersections are shown. Similarly, the description of Cahuenga East on page 3-33 and Figure 3-6 disguises the loss of a northbound lane. A figure should have been included showing the limits of the lane removals, not camouflaging them as if only at intersections.
- The thresholds of significance used in the DEIR traffic analysis are inadequate as they do not address the impacts of traffic diversion to alternate routes through residential areas.
- The traffic impact analysis is inadequate because it only assesses isolated intersections and intersection delay, ignoring the corridor level impacts associated with loss of a travel lane across the Cahuenga Pass.
- The traffic impact analysis fails to include the intersection of Cahuenga West with Mulholland Drive/Woodrow Wilson, where traffic already backs up for close to a mile with the existing two lanes on Cahuenga West and wit the reduction to one southbound lane there, the impact is surely expected to be significant.
- At the intersection of Cahuenga West/Barham Boulevard, the DEIR identifies a significant impact in both the AM and PM Peak hours, with average vehicle delay being increased FIVEFOLD, by 3.25 minutes per car, in the AM and THREEFOLD , by 2.0 minutes per car, in the PM. That level of increased delay at this intersection is unacceptable.
- At the intersection of Cahuenga East/Pilgrimage Bridge, the DEIR also identifies a significant impact in both the AM and PM Peak hours, with average vehicle delay being increased 264%, by one minute per car, in the AM and FOUROLD , by 3.0 minutes per car, in the PM. That level of increased delay at this intersection is unacceptable.
- No estimate is provided as to how much longer it will take to travel by car between Barham Boulevard and Odin Street. With five minutes of additional delay at the two intersections at the ends of this segment and who knows how much time wasted in between in bumper-to-bumper traffic, the loss of time to the thousands of persons in vehicles, the additional emissions due to idling cars, and the frustration experienced daily by commuters, could not possibly be outweighed by the mobility gained for a small number of bicyclists.
- The DEIR is inadequate because it does not even mention the presence of alternate routes to the Cahuenga Pass which could be impacted by the loss of roadway capacity in the Pass. In other areas of the City, it mentions some potential alternate routes, but in the Cahuenga Pass area it does not mention Mulholland, Outpost, Woodrow Wilson, Passmore, Wrightwood or Laurel Canyon, all of which could be impacted by traffic diverted from Cahuenga East and West.
- The DEIR concludes that “The extent to which trips would divert to adjacent roadways is not reasonably foreseeable and therefore impacts cannot be precisely determined. However, it is anticipated that some significant impacts could occur on these roadways.” We disagree. It is foreseeable and it will be significant and it will negatively impact our neighborhoods.
- The loss of a lane on Cahuenga West will negatively impact emergency response, especially with a Fire Station located in the section of Cahuenga West where a lane will be removed and traffic congestion will be increased. Will a fire engine even be able to get out of that station?
- The mitigation measures proposed are inadequate and not likely to reduce the significant impacts identified. They rely on monitoring the situation, but no program of “before” traffic counts is mandated on our residential streets to be able to document that the volumes have increased as a result of the loss of capacity in the Cahuenga Pass.
- The DEIR does not even attempt to identify which impacts, if any, will be mitigated and concludes that the traffic impacts will remain significant and unmitigated. We agree and for that reason the project must not be implemented as proposed.
- For all of these reasons, we urge the City Council to select the No Project Alternative for the bicycle lanes in the Cahuenga Pass. Short of that, we urge the City Council not to certify the EIR as we feel its traffic analysis is inadequate and fails to properly disclose the impacts of the proposed project.
HOLLYWOOD HILLS WEST NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL
BOARD MEETING MINUTES
February 20, 2013
Woman’s Club of Hollywood, 1749 North La Brea Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90046
1. Call to order by President, Anastasia Mann at 6:48 p.m.
Roll call by Secretary Kathy Bañuelos. Anastasia Mann, Orrin Feldman, Kathy Bañuelos, Michael Meyer, Robert Mott, Jim Geoghan, Jerry Garcia, Jeffrey Papes, Mary Prange, Dietrich Nelson, Vincent Laresca, Alwyn Kushner, Nicole Carcel, Rick Cullen, Patricia Weber, Robin Moreno, Joyce Dyrector, Paul Darrigo, Barbara Witkin, and Maria Sussman. Quorum established. Absent: Joshua Kopel, Jarone Johnson, & Clive Whitcher.
2. Minutes – The minutes for the HHWNC Board meeting of January 16, 2013 were approved unanimously as presented. (Meyer/Mann)
3. President’s Report by Anastasia Mann
· AD 43 – Eric Menjivar, field rep for Assemblyman Mike Gatto gave an update.
· CD4 –Councilmember Tom LaBonge addressed the board about ways to improve traffic flow, protection of Hollywood Peak, 150 acres of land being designated for hiking from Forest Lawn, challenges with the Cahuenga Pass, and challenges dealing with tour operators.
· CD13 – Angela Motta, Field Deputy for Council President Eric Garcetti gave an update on the Dorothy J and Benjamin B Smith Park and ways they can improve the safety and recreational use there.
· Mike Feuer, candidate for Los Angeles City Attorney, discussed his platform for gun control/opposing gun violence and ways to improve neighborhood safety.
· Greg Bartz, Community Liaison for DWP talked about the construction schedule for upgrades to the line on Mulholland with lane closures scheduled for the end of March.
· Area 5 Committee – Anastasia announced that Jarone Johnson resigned as Chair of the Area 5 Committee due to relocation out of state. She asked the Secretary to post a vacancy notice for the position on the HHWNC so that we could begin soliciting applications for his replacement.
· Women’s Club/Meeting Venue: Anastasia announced that The Women’s Club of Hollywood has gone into receivership. The bankruptcy court will be increasing the rental fees for use of the facility for future meetings. Anastasia appointed an Ad Hoc Committee of Dietrich, Barbara and Nicole to investigate alternative meeting locations for the Women’s Club.
4. Illegal Digital Billboards: Gabriel Kramer of www.takethemdown.org and Andrew Kugler of Mayer Brown gave an update on 103 digital billboards that were illegally erected in L.A (Mann/Moreno) moved, “The Board of Hollywood Hills Neighborhood Council urges the City of Los Angeles to fully implement the appeals court ruling in Summit Media LLC v. City of Los Angeles and to remove the 103 illegal digital billboards blanketing our city. We further request that the City refrain from making any changes to the zoning laws relative to digital billboards until the illegal boards are removed and any such proposed change has been subjected to an open and transparent outreach process to community stakeholders.” (Meyer/Nelson) made a friendly amendment adding the phrase to the previous motion, “We are not opposed to all digital billboards but we feel [the City] should enforce the Appeals Court decision.” The motion to amend carried: 10-3-4. The entire amended motion then carried: 15-0-4.
5. Cahuenga West – LA Bike Plan EIR – The City Planning Department has released the Draft EIR for the first year of projects included in the 2010 Bicycle Master Plan that require environmental clearance. The Draft EIR can be found on the City’s website at http://cityplanning.lacity.org/eir/BicyclePlan/DEIR/Bike%20Plan%20Draft%20EIR.html.
(Meyer/Carcel) moved: The Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council submits the following comments on the City of Los Angeles 2010 Bicycle Plan First Year of the First Five-Year Implementation Strategy Draft EIR:
· We remain supportive of the concept of expanding modal options in the City of Los Angeles transportation network, particularly with regard to bicycling, but feel it must been done in a balanced and safe way.
· Within the boundaries of HHWNC, the primary bicycle facilities proposed in the DEIR are on Cahuenga East and West and on Lankershim Boulevard.
· We find the project description to be misleading and difficult for the public to understand. The fact that a southbound travel lane will be removed from Cahuenga West between Barham Boulevard and the Pilgrimage Bridge is not clearly stated on page 3-11, nor depicted on Figure 3-5, where only the lanes at intersections are shown. Similarly, the description of Cahuenga East on page 3-33 and Figure 3-6 disguises the loss of a northbound lane. A figure should have been included showing the limits of the lane removals, not camouflaging them as if only at intersections.
· The thresholds of significance used in the DEIR traffic analysis are inadequate as they do not address the impacts of traffic diversion to alternate routes through residential areas.
· The traffic impact analysis is inadequate because it only assesses isolated intersections and intersection delay, ignoring the corridor level impacts associated with loss of a travel lane across the Cahuenga Pass.
· The traffic impact analysis fails to include the intersection of Cahuenga West with Mulholland Drive/Woodrow Wilson, where traffic already backs up for close to a mile with the existing two lanes on Cahuenga West and wit the reduction to one southbound lane there, the impact is surely expected to be significant.
· At the intersection of Cahuenga West/Barham Boulevard, the DEIR identifies a significant impact in both the AM and PM Peak hours, with average vehicle delay being increased FIVEFOLD, by 3.25 minutes per car, in the AM and THREEFOLD , by 2.0 minutes per car, in the PM. That level of increased delay at this intersection is unacceptable.
· At the intersection of Cahuenga East/Pilgrimage Bridge, the DEIR also identifies a significant impact in both the AM and PM Peak hours, with average vehicle delay being increased 264%, by one minute per car, in the AM and FOUROLD , by 3.0 minutes per car, in the PM. That level of increased delay at this intersection is unacceptable.
· No estimate is provided as to how much longer it will take to travel by car between Barham Boulevard and Odin Street. With five minutes of additional delay at the two intersections at the ends of this segment and who knows how much time wasted in between in bumper-to-bumper traffic, the loss of time to the thousands of persons in vehicles, the additional emissions due to idling cars, and the frustration experienced daily by commuters, could not possibly be outweighed by the mobility gained for a small number of bicyclists.
· The DEIR is inadequate because it does not even mention the presence of alternate routes to the Cahuenga Pass which could be impacted by the loss of roadway capacity in the Pass. In other areas of the City, it mentions some potential alternate routes, but in the Cahuenga Pass area it does not mention Mulholland, Outpost, Woodrow Wilson, Passmore, Wrightwood or Laurel Canyon, all of which could be impacted by traffic diverted from Cahuenga East and West.
· The DEIR concludes that “The extent to which trips would divert to adjacent roadways is not reasonably foreseeable and therefore impacts cannot be precisely determined. However, it is anticipated that some significant impacts could occur on these roadways.” We disagree. It is foreseeable and it will be significant and it will negatively impact our neighborhoods.
· The loss of a lane on Cahuenga West will negatively impact emergency response, especially with a Fire Station located in the section of Cahuenga West where a lane will be removed and traffic congestion will be increased. Will a fire engine even be able to get out of that station?
· The mitigation measures proposed are inadequate and not likely to reduce the significant impacts identified. They rely on monitoring the situation, but no program of “before” traffic counts is mandated on our residential streets to be able to document that the volumes have increased as a result of the loss of capacity in the Cahuenga Pass.
· The DEIR does not even attempt to identify which impacts, if any, will be mitigated and concludes that the traffic impacts will remain significant and unmitigated. We agree and for that reason the project must not be implemented as proposed.
· For all of these reasons, we urge the City Council to select the No Project Alternative for the bicycle lanes in the Cahuenga Pass. Short of that, we urge the City Council not to certify the EIR as we feel its traffic analysis is inadequate and fails to properly disclose the impacts of the proposed project.
· Michael Meyer presented the comments above regarding the DEIR on behalf of Outpost Homeowners Association, AKA: Area 5 Committee property owners.
· Patricia Weber opposed the option in the DEIR that would have led to the potential loss of 50 parking spaces on behalf of the Cahuenga Pass property owners referring to the negative impact it would have on local businesses and emergency safety vehicles.
· Speaking on behalf of the Department of Transportation were re the 2010 Bike Plan were Senior Bicycle Coordinator Michelle Mowery, Bicycle Coordinator Nathan Baird and Bikeway Sr. Engineer Tim Fremaux. Per DOT staff, there are 40 key projects, including the Cahuenga Pass bike plan, identified within 200 initial projects. The Plan is in the Public Hearing process right now. Once the process is over, they will choose the projects that have community support and incorporate any changes to the design of those projects.
· Alex Bartrosouf from LA County Bike Coalition talked about the safety issues in response to the Bike Plan. Orrin Feldman gave an overview of the history on this issue.
· Dan Bernstein, former HHWNC president, discussed the how bike lanes work in San Francisco, calling it a potential tool to change the culture of L.A.
· Daniel Savage, president of Hollywood Hills Community Club, spoke on behalf of the HHCC, which voted unanimously to support the HHWNC’s motion.
(Prange/Papes) moved to table the motion: The motion to table failed: 7-10-0.
The original motion carried: 14-0-2.
6. Hollywood Half Marathon/Community business: Ashley Sanchez gave an update on the 2nd Annual Hollywood Half Marathon, taking place at 6 a.m. on Saturday April 6th, 2013. The Half Marathon, 10k, 5k, and Kids Run will start and finish on Hollywood Blvd and continue to the Silver Lake and Los Feliz communities. There will be road closures throughout the route until 8 a.m.
7. Vice President’s Report by Orrin Feldman – PLUM Committee Report:
· The Yucca Market – 1815 Cahuenga Blvd. (Feldman/Witkin) moved “The HHWNC supports the Yucca Market's application to sell a full line of alcoholic beverages for off-site consumption and expanding the hours of operation to 11 pm.” The motion carried: 13-2-1. (Papes recused himself from this vote). Storeowner Mr. Yue spoke against this application stating that it would contribute to more acts of public drunkenness in the community.
· The Millennium Project: The PLUM Committee deliberated and decided, unanimously, to recommend that HHWNC should not support the Millennium Project's current proposal. The PLUM Committee concluded that the proposed buildings would be too big, too tall, generate too much traffic, not provide enough parking, would be difficult to protect in the event of a fire on a high floor and too luminous. The PLUM Committee's concern extended to even whether the site was geologically appropriate if these building were to be built on an existing and known fault line. (Feldman/Witkin) moved: “The HHWNC Board does not support the Millennium Project's current proposal for the reasons stated in the preceding paragraph.” (Meyer/Carcel) made a friendly amendment: “We don’t think they should build anything higher than 22 stories.” The motion to amend carried: 13-3-1. The final motion carried: 16-1-0.
· A motion to approve the allocation of $250 to pay for meeting room fees in order to host working group meetings at the Woman’s Club of Hollywood was tabled.
8. Treasurer’s Report by Michael Meyer gave an update on the budget going forth to June 2013. Papes/Geoghan moved the Monthly Treasurer’s report, which was approved unanimously.
9. Secretary’s Report by Kathy Bañuelos. Kathy distributed a board roster.
10. Parliamentarian’s Report. Robert Mott asked the board to submit suggestions on how to use the remaining funds in the Board budget.
11. Committee Reports
a. ISSUE COMMITTEES: None.
b. AREA COMMITTEES
· Area 5 (Meyer/Prange) moved, “HHWNC Board approves the expenditure of $15,000 to purchase outdoor fitness equipment for the Dorothy J and Benjamin B Smith Park on Franklin Avenue.” (Mann/Bañuelos) moved to amend the motion to instead support the concept of providing equipment for this Park of up to $15,000 with a more detailed presentation to be made at the March meeting.” The amended motion carried.
· Area 7 (Witkin/Carcel) moved, “The Area 7 committee respectfully requests the HHWNC board allocate an additional $200.00 for a total of $600 to the 2013 LA Marathon Cheering Sections supplies and water.” The motion carried unanimously.
12. Public Comments: None.
13. Old Business: None.
14. New Business: None.
15. Adjournment at 9:44 p.m.
– Minutes by Pat Kramer, Apple One –