HIGHLIGHTS FROM JAN. 5, 2010 BRENTWOOD COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEETING
(from draft of Minutes that are subject to corrections and approval)
NOMINATING COMMITTEE
The Chair announced that Marylin Krell, as Chair of the Nominating Committee, along with Larry Watts and Jenna Abouzeid will, according to the Bylaws, be responsible for nominating candidates for the officer positions and forwarding their recommendations to the Members at least one week prior to the February 2, 2010 meeting, at which time there will be an election.
REPRESENTATION COMMITTEE
Bette Harris, Representation Committee Chair, stated the committee is reviewing candidates for the position of Member-at-Large, for which the Bylaws specifically require outreach. The term is a 2-year term for the seat, not the individual. Current Members-at-Large will be considered along with others from the community who apply. Requirements for the position are a commitment by the individual representative with no bias, attendance at all BCC meetings on a regular basis, and payment of annual dues. Current Members-at-Large, Representatives and Alternates are invited to contact Bette Harris if they wish to be considered. A reminder email will be sent out with the deadline listed. The Chair asked all Homeowner Association Representatives to forward the email to their stakeholders.
AD HOC PROCEDURES COMMITTEE
Chair, Larry Watts, and the committee and are charged with generally reviewing the procedures of the BCC including the Land Use Committee. At their first meeting Flora Gil Krisiloff reviewed the history and noted the goal had been to focus on projects where stakeholders were immediately affected and provide a forum. The District Council is increasingly directing applicants to make a presentation to the BCC to get a sense of the BCC’s position. While useful for the BCC to keep abreast of what is going on in the community, it is not the role of the BCC to approve or deny applications – that is the role of the City. The BCC’s role is to examine the impact on the community and what position, if any, it should take.
Larry stated the committee needs to determine what the criteria are in terms of choosing which projects the LUC studies to minimize the amount of time required. They must be seen as thoughtful and reasonable representatives of the community.
Finally, while the BCC may take a general position, the City may take a different position before the BCC has had the opportunity to reconvene. It was suggested to consider delegating responsibility to sub-groups to analyze and act without a meeting of the full body. The Chair confirmed that the BCC’s purpose is to support or oppose projects it chooses to take on, and that the City’s decision makers approve or disapprove. The Ad Hoc Committee’s next meeting is on January 13 at 5:30 pm at the University Synagogue. They estimate a final report will be available in March/April, 2010. The regular activities of the committees will not be interrupted. Larry Watts has sent a report plus some recommendations to the Procedures Committee and is awaiting feedback
The Chair noted that at 4:00 p.m. on January 13, 2010, there is a meeting at University Synagogue regarding landscaping the bare wall on Sunset Boulevard. The Ad Hoc Procedures Meeting is not an open meeting; however, interested parties are encouraged to attend the landscape meeting.
PUBLIC SAFETY REPORT
Officer Philip Enbody, Senior Lead Officer
Raymond Klein, BCC Public Safety Representative
Officer Enbody stated although final numbers were not yet available, last year there was a decrease in crime. He discussed a recent street robbery on this week’s crime alert where the assailant approached a female victim from behind, snatched her purse and jumped into a car. They have identified the vehicle and two suspects so if stopped for any routine matter, they will be apprehended. Chief McCarthy has taken over the West Bureau and is seeking improvements. Pending a final report, the recent reported homicide in Brentwood was determined to have actually been an accident.
Public Safety Representative, Raymond Klein, stated there was no CPAB meeting in December so he had no report.
TREASURER’S REPORT
The Chair delivered the Treasurer’s report in Bryan Gordon’s absence. The Chair referred the board to the financial report previously emailed for the period ending December 31, 2009. The title of the report was changed from “revenue and expenses†to “disbursements and receipts.†Annual dues statements had been emailed. See the Chair for a hard copy.
Recording Secretary
The Chair stated that the Secretary, Jennifer Wenger-Turchen, had a concussion on Sunday and was recovering at home. We all wish her well. Roz Gamble acted as Secretary in her absence.
Barrington Recreation Park
Multi-Family Housing Representative, Roz Gamble, reported a meeting was coordinated for the Brentwood Sunset Condominium residents on December 7, 2009 regarding excessive noise and activities at the Barrington Recreation Park outside of permitted operating hours. Attendees included the park director, representatives from the Department of Recreation and Parks, Jim Horwitz from Councilman Rosendahl’s office, Raymond Klein, and 6 condo residents. Options discussed were: installing lights on the VA field on the east side of Barrington to allow evening sports; rescheduling the afternoon tag football games to the VA field; and requests to the Municipal Sports Department to relocate some of the evening games to other recreation parks. The estimate for the lights was $400,000; Quimby Funds cannot be used for VA property. The goal is to find a balance that is sensitive to both the community recreation needs and to the peace and quiet of immediate residents. Roz will continue to assist the residents. Jessyca Avalos stated that the Park Director was willing to help and Councilman Rosendahl’s office will continue to work with the residents.
Bill Vogel, President of the Brentwood Sunset Homeowners Association, spoke briefly of their concerns. He thanked the BCC for its efforts to find a solution.
Bill Vogel also asked how to contact the BCC in general. The Chair said they were building a new site at www.brentwoodcommunitycouncil.org. In the meanwhile, requests for information could be sent to info@brentwoodcommunitycouncil.org.
GOVERNMENT REPORTS
Assembly member Mike Feuer
Ellen Isaacs, Representative of Assemblymember Mike Feuer was absent. The Chair delivered her report. Legislative session began January 4. Governor will submit his budget at the end of January. There is a $20 billion deficit and Governor asked the federal government for $8 billion in assistance. Mike Feuer will fight to preserve essential social services, particularly education funding. He will co-chair a hearing in January of the Joint Select Committee on improving state government. Mike plans to introduce fewer bills this year and he will focus only on the most significant issues facing the State. The package of water measures which includes a bill by the Assemblymember will be on the June ballot.
Jennifer Badger, West Area Director, Mayor or Los Angeles
Was absent and did not provide a report.
State Veterans Home
Andrea Campbell stated that last month the irrigation systems for the landscaping were installed. The landscaping will begin in January and will be completed by February 2010. There should be no disruption to residents on Bringham. The landscape meeting was attended by Nancy Babcock and Barbara Goldenberg, both of whom were not present to report. Andrea directed interested parties to www.glavc.org.
Jessyca Avalos, Field Deputy, Councilman Bill Rosendahl
Jessyca wished everyone a Happy New Year. She welcomes contact and her email is Jessyca.avalos@lacity.org. She will also send out a weekly legislative update by email.
Callie Hurd, Field Representative, Senator Fran Pavley
Callie Hurd circulated a handout of Senator Pavley’s bills the governor has signed along with a monthly newsletter. She invited members to sign up for email notification. Ten bills passed through and the governor signed seven of them. See the handout for more detail on the bills. Senator is pushing for a ban on BPA in children’s products, clean air requirements for motorcycles, eliminating/regulating chemicals used for cleaning in food facilities, and she is continuing with water recycling and management.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
405 widening will result in serious traffic disruption and closures. Starting January 12, between 7:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. the southbound lanes will be closed and on February 15 same hours, the northbound lanes, while they are setting up K rails. See the schedule at www.metro.net/I-405.
The Chair asked for any other announcements but there were none.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Nora Ward spoke about the type of veterans being treated by New Directions. The Chair directed Ms. Ward to attend one of the VA quarterly community meetings and he requested her email so he could provide her with the date.
Seth Horowitz, Luxe Hotel, announced that all hotels from Santa Monica to Pasadena were full from the BCS game at the Rosebowl on Thursday. The city will benefit from this.
The Chair explained, in response to a question, that the group marching at the Wilshire/Federal corner of the VA was protesting the Veterans Park Conservancy use of the VA land.
BRENTWOOD COUNTRY CLUB DRIVING RANGE FENCE
The Chair reported on the recent meeting of the Land Use Committee at the Brentwood Country Club. Manager, Daniel Enzler, made a short presentation along with Patrick Casey. The presentation had previously been emailed to the BCC and forwarded to the Design Review Board. The plan is to add a fence on Burlingame Avenue on the interior side of trees and to close off the corners of the fence on San Vicente where most of the balls are lost at the driving range. The fence work on the Burlingame side of the Club property involves the removal of 27 eucalyptus trees from the current trees that are three rows thick. Daniel Enzler stated he notified the Burlingame residents on December 22, 2009 but there had been no response. The Design Review Board hearing is on February 4, 2010. Daniel stated he had no information on whether any claims had been filed by motorists with damage by golf balls.
Flora Gil Krisiloff, member of the Design Review Board, lives in Brentwood Terrace and cited an instance about ten years ago when she came home from vacation and saw 200 foot smokestack poles were installed visible from Avondale (two blocks west of this project) without any notification. It was reported to Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski and she halted the work. They were told it was for golf ball safety and that it would take care of any errant golf balls. Now ten years later, and because of improved golf club technology, we have the same problem. The opportunity to review the plan must be provided to the residents. Neighbors were very upset. Also impacts San Vicente Boulevard which is a scenic corridor. In reality, one home south of the park gets the maximum number of balls rather than the north. Regardless of the trees, you will be able to see the fencing. Ray Keller said it would be wise to build a scale model with number of poles before and after to allay concerns and questions.
The Chair directed Daniel Enzler to arrange a meeting with adequate notice for the residents on Burlingame. The Chair further directed Brentwood Park, Brentwood Terrace, and SBRA to notify their residents of the DRB hearing. There are about 20 affected homeowners on Burlingame.
PRESENTATION BY FRIENDS OF KAUFMAN-BRENTWOOD LIBRARY BRANCH
Penny Chiba made a presentation regarding the Friends of the Library. This is the library’s main support group and they provide donations for the library to purchase furniture and carts. Penny distributed a volunteer and donation sheet. There is a board meeting of the Friends on January 19, 2010.
BUNDY VILLAGE
Lauren Cole, Chair of the Transportation Committee, reported we are trying to get the Bundy Village project significantly downsized. Last hearing was in November; next hearing was supposed to be in January 2010. Councilman Bill Rosendahl, the developer, and BCC Chair Raymond Klein and Ike Cohen had attended a last minute meeting, and postponed the January hearing to February 11, 2010. A Time-Delay Traffic Study will be done and the developer has agreed to fund it up to $20,000. Ike Cohen is working on proposals.
Goal is to raise awareness in the neighborhood of the West Los Angeles Neighborhood Council. Councilman Rosendahl has been advised there is no official statement of support from the WLANC as he had been told. We need to file an appeal of the Vesting Tentative Tract decision by January 8, 2010.
Three projects are proposed for development that impact traffic in that area: Bundy Village at Bundy/Olympic, Bergamot Station, and a project at Sepulveda/Pico. We need support to make the projects more reasonable. We need to:1. Forward information to residents that do not have an well organized council sending them information; 2. Retain an experienced traffic engineer to evaluate the true traffic impacts for presentation to the City Council, and 3. Identify legal assistance to draft appeals.
We need to raise $5,000 to print the flyers designed by Lauren Cole and deliver them in WLA. The Chair committed to propose at the BHA meeting next Tuesday that they would match every $500 contribution and up to $2,000. We need to make Councilman Rosendahl aware the community does not support a project this size. Attorneys Allen Matkins represented KTTV at the November meeting and it was suggested to contact that firm to see if they are planning an appeal. The Chair asked whether there were any objections to the BCC retaining the traffic engineer to be paid for by the developer. Funds would be funneled through Rosendahl’s office.
Upon motion made by Don Keller and duly seconded, it was resolved to authorize the BCC to contract with a traffic engineer to conduct a time-delay traffic study paid for by the developer. The motion was approved by a vote of 16 in favor, 0 opposed, and 2 abstentions.
It was also noted by Jeff Hall that the Brentwood News that has been on hiatus is returning in two months and can help publicize these issues.
FIG & OLIVE
Brett Engstrom, consultant for the applicant, presented an update on behalf of Fig & Olive. He hoped to get some input from the BCC on a valet route and other issues. An email update had been forwarded to the BCC Board before the meeting. No hearing is scheduled until early February. Further discussion asked whether the valet will be stationed on San Vicente; Brett responded that they will pull into the parking lot on the property. He also added that they are pulling back on the hours of operation so it will probably be midnight during the week.
Howard Robinson, Land Use Consultant, representing Westgate Homeowners stated that the homeowners association is opposed to the restaurant because of parking and traffic issues. The BCC is not yet in a position to support or oppose, and there will be another Council meeting to discuss the application before the date of the Zoning Administrator hearing. At the last BCC meeting, the BCC voted against opposing the ABC application. The BCC may take no position, and merely submit conditions to the ZA if the ZA decides to approve, including a master list of conditions and minimum number of parking spaces, hours of operation inside and outside, no alcohol without food, no Happy Hour, etc. The Land Use Committee will meet later this month (date to be determined) to discuss a position and conditions, and Howard Robinson may attend for part of the meeting.
NEXT BCC MEETING: February 2, 2010
