PPCC Board Meeting - 09.08.11

PPCC Board Meeting - 09.08.11

The PPCC has been working hard to protect and improve the quality of life in Pacific Palisades.  Do any of these topics interest you?

*  Preserving our beautiful PRIDE bus benches
*  Improvements in Portrero Canyon
*  Asilomar street repairs
*  Night-time noise from organized motorcycle rides
*  Improvements to the California Incline and Pacific Coast Highway
*  Upcoming Park Advisory Board Meetings at the Recreation Center
*  LA Bureau of Santitation's plans to raise rates and fix infrastructure
*  Sewage spill onto Malibu Village and Pacific Coast Highway
*  Proposal to study a Business Improvement District by Palisadian merchants
*  The City's proposal to change municipal regulations that govern off-site signs (billboards)
*  AEG Stadium

If so, then please take a look at the minutes from our meeting by clicking on this link:  http://www.pp90272.org/minutes2011.htm#8SEP11

News From Rustic Canyon Park

Rustic Canyon RC Ball Field in process

City Engineer advises that the Rustic Canyon "Prop K" project will be completed in mid-November 2011.  Delay attributed to need for hydroseeded grass to grow and an oversight in the contracting process that missed the need to install needed irrigation infrastructure for the field.  Well, the voters did vote on this specific project which was defined as an irrigation project.

Suspect Sought in Antique Gift Store Robbery

 September 12, 2011                                                                                                          

Suspect Sought in Antique Gift Store Robbery

Los Angeles.  LAPD West Los Angeles Area detectives are asking for the public’s help in providing any information that will lead to the arrest of a suspect responsible for a robbery in the West Los Angeles Area.

On September 12, 2011, at approximately 10:20 a.m., an African-American male entered “The Gift Garden Antiques Store”, located at 15266 Antioch Boulevard.  The suspect entered the location and forced the owner to the rear of the store, when he then tied her up.  The Suspect  took the money from the register and several gold and silver items. The suspect walked away from the store in an unknown direction. 

The suspect is described as an African-American male that appeared to be 20-25 years of age.  He stood about 6 feet tall and weighs about 150 pounds.  The suspect was dressed in dark colored clothing and was armed with a handgun. 

The suspect is considered ARMED and DANGEROUS.

Anyone with information on this crime is urged to call West L.A. Robbery Detectives at (310) 444-1520. 

During non-business hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7.    

Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477).  

Tipsters may also contact Crime Stoppers by texting to phone number 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S on most keypads) with a cell phone.   
All text messages should begin with the letters “LAPD.” 
Tipsters may also go to LAPDOnline.org, click on "webtips" and follow the prompts.

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PPCC Opposes Parking In Front of Residential Driveways

Friends of PPCC,

Call Councilman Rosendahl at 310- 575-8461 or join us at City Hall on Wednesday, July 27 at 2 p.m. to oppose on-street parking in front of residential driveways.  Read more below.

Best,

Janet Turner, Chair

Pacific Palisades Community Council 

July 25, 2011                                                  Via E mail councilman.rosendahl@lacity.org

Councilmember Bill Rosendahl

200 N. Spring Street

Los Angeles, CA 90012

Re:      PPCC Opposes Rosendahl Motion to Allow the City of Los Angeles to Issue Permits for On-Street Parking in Front of Residential Driveways / Continued Consideration by City Transportation Committee on Wednesday, July 27, 2011 at 2:00 PM.

Dear Councilmember Rosendahl:

PPCC is opposed to your Motion that instructs the City to examine the benefits of using a local permit process to allow residents to park in front of their driveways

because on-street parking in front of driveways presents many safety concerns and:

1      Is wholly opposite to the primary reason the CVC does not allow the same. I.E., emergency vehicles must be able to park out of the way of street traffic.  There is no rational basis to prioritize increased residential parking supply over the safety of a single Los Angeles resident or a first-responder.

2      Will not only restrict three-point turns, it will eliminate the space for a car to get out of the way of an oncoming vehicle.

3      Ignores the fact that many streets, such as the Alphabet Streets in the Palisades, often have room for only one car to pass and the escape is into the open space in front of driveways. This problem is magnified with construction vehicles, dumpster and large vehicles parked on our neighborhood streets.

Attached is a letter detailing several other concerns.

We would encourage you to consider withdrawing the Motion, primarily because it presents safety concerns.

Sincerely,

Janet Turner, Chairman 

Pacific Palisades Community Council  

310-573-0382

                                   

CC:  City Council Transportation Committee, Whitney Blumenfeld, Joaquin Macias, John Gregory, Norm Kulla

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Photos From The 4th of July Parade

A few snaps from our own Jennifer Malaret of the Pacific Palisades 4th of July Parade.


Thanks Jennifer!

Heads Up From the Chair

Heads Up from the Chair
By  Janet Turner   (Editor: Barbara Marinacci)

1 . Warning about July 4th vulnerability to burglary

The LAPD's  West LA Area's Commanding Officer, Captain Evangelyn Nathan, recently sent out an e-mail asking us to assist the police force in deterring local property thefts during the all-day 4th of July festivities that go on here. Many residents participate in the celebration, and Pacific Palisades also attracts lots of out-of-towners who enjoy spending Independence Day with us.

The LAPD, of course, will assign plenty of officers to watch over the three crowd-attracting local events-the 5 /10 K run, the small-town-style parade through the Village, and the fireworks show at PaliHi. Knowing how focused the police will be and aware that the Palisades is an upscale community, burglars doubtless plan to reap benefits from people's absences from their premises. They will search for homes whose residents, clearly elsewhere, have negligently left doors unlocked and windows open.
   
The weekly crime reports that many of us see surprise and even shock us with ample evidence that people living here often fail to protect home security, and also that they and visitors to this community get careless about leaving valuables clearly visible in their unlocked vehicles.
   
So if you're going away from your house anytime on the 4th, please lock your doors and windows-and turn on your alarm system if you have one.  And whether you leave your car at home or drive and park it elsewhere, keep it locked … and hide from view anything you don't want to be stolen.
   
Although our community seems quite safe compared with most other ones in the LA area, it is often vulnerable to property crimes. And therefore so are YOU. Be extra vigilant on Monday, July the 4th!

2.  Retirement of Fire Chief

We have learned that Fire Chief Millage Peaks is retiring on July 11, after 35 years with the LAFD-including the past 22 months spent as its head administrator.  In that position, he was obliged to oversee the severe decisions, caused by ever-worsening fiscal conditions in the City of Los Angeles, that strip some $54 million from the Department's 2011-12 budget. Doubtless the widespread protests of outraged citizens, to which our Community Council and Palisades residents contributed,  vocally at meetings and in print, caused Chief Peaks unwelcome stress. He will soon be relieved of it.  However, we'll have new stresses of our own, for as of July  5-the day after our town's traditional 4th of July celebrations-Pacific Palisades' fire station in the midst of the Village will undergo drastic cuts.  Station 69, alas,  will be one of LAFD's cost-cutting targets, with 12 firefighters (a third of its accustomed personnel) departing and Engine 69 removed from dependable service here.  Despite LAFD's assurances, we will no longer feel adequately protected from fires that start up in the mountain areas just beyond our homes.  We are pleased that Councilman Bill Rosendahl ultimately voted against the proposed new LAFD budget,  and also continues to express his concerns -as he did in his Letter to the Editor published in the Palisadian-Post on June 30-over the Palisades' increased vulnerability due to its unique geographic isolation, with few traffic routes into the community.

3.  AEG's plan for a new stadium and revamped Convention Center

AEG has a proposal to the City of Los Angeles that's pending City Council approval. This ambitious entertainment company wants to construct an NFL stadium, to be called Farmers' Field and seating up to 76,000 people, in downtown Los Angeles. Planned to be operational by 2016, it would be located next to the Convention Center, where AEG would demolish an outmoded hall and build a new one, and also create new parking lots nearby. The construction work and, later, hospitality services, would generate many thousands of decidedly needed new jobs.  AEG's CEO, Tim Leiweke, recently presented the plan's specifics at a meeting of the Pacific Palisades Community Council, some of whose members expressed doubts about this ambitious project's feasibility. A much larger meeting of representatives from District 11's eight neighborhood and community councils, as well as concerned members of the public, took place in Mar Vista on June 27. Three PPCC representatives, Quentin Fleming (a USC business professor) and Jamie Schloss (Attorney),  and Jim Rea (MBA, Realtor) again questioned particular aspects of AEG's plan. For instance, what would happen if AEG couldn't persuade an AFL league team to sign a franchise deal and move to Los Angeles (which in past years lost two such teams)? And what protections would be in place to protect the City of LA, already in financial straits, from being further imperiled if the stadium, with its construction partly funded by municipal bonds, failed to generate sufficient income? Other speakers also challenged the wisdom of AEG's plans. It was also pointed out that a competitor, Ed Roski, already has a permit to build an NFL stadium in the City of Industry, which wouldn't present the traffic congestion problems that already beset downtown L.A.

We're pleased that Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who had set up the Mar Vista meeting, has asked five Palisadians to serve on his blue-ribbon panel , which will further investigate the wisdom of allowing AEG to proceed with this project-subject as it must be to City Council approval. They are Richard Cohen, Quentin Fleming, Jamie Schloss, Jim Rea all from PPCC, plus John Petrick former Chamber President.

Proposed New Football Stadium for Los Angeles

Tim Leiweke, President and CEO of AEG, the owners and operators of STAPLES Center and L.A.LIVE will be speaking at Pacific Palisades Community Council on Thursday, June 9, 2011 about the multi-purpose Event Center and modernization plans proposed for the Convention Center in Downtown Los Angeles (commonly referred to as "The Stadium")

In an e mail to PPCC, Mr. Leiweke's representative said "We have found that there is a lot of mis-information about the project and welcome the opportunity to speak to the community about the proposal.  As you know, this project has attracted City-wide attention as the event center would be the home to an NFL team. 

If anyone would like to learn more or has an opinion about the proposed Stadium I would like to encourage them to attend PPCC.  We met at the Palisades Library 861 Alma Real Drive, Pacific Palisades, on Thursday June 9 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Janet Turner, Chair
Pacific Palisades Community Council