• Charles Munger, the developer, is creating a pedestrian-friendly, neighborhood-serving village totaling less than 75% of the allowable building size permitted for the site.
• Green Hollow Square will contain 102 more parking spaces than required by code to ensure adequate parking on site for guests, tenants and employees.
• Traffic impacts are held to a minimum by providing long driveways, convenient circulation for parking and efficient entrance and exit controls. The project will generate about 1450 net new trips per day or about 120 trips per hour. This is an increase of only about one trip per minute in and out of the project site compared to today.
• Green Hollow Square does not call for cutting through the median on San Vicente Blvd., thus there are no impacts to the Coral Trees.
• The Barry Building property has been in the Barry–Munger family for over 50 years, which is why he plans to develop a special gathering place for Brentwood.
• Learn more and make your voice heard at
www.GreenHollowSquare.com
Brentwood Residents Speak Up about Green Hollow Square
“Charles Munger and family have done what is a rarity, they have placed the comfort and well being of the community above profit, something we don’t see much of today.â€
– Harvey Flax
“The Barry Building is run down and not a good use of space… I believe that developing this beautiful and positive project will enhance the experience of living in Brentwood.â€
– Marcie Polier Swartz
“It will improve the neighborhood. Provide much needed parking. Add a newer safer building for shopping. Provide employment and needed services.â€
-Horace and Mary Lumpkin
“My family and I enjoy living in Brentwood because it is one of the few walking communities in Los Angeles… The addition of Green Hollow Square in Brentwood will only enhance the options for local residents.â€
-Scott Kaufman
“Green Hollow Square will provide a new and improved environment for those of us who gather meeting family and friends to shop, dine and relax in a pleasant atmosphere.â€
-Diane Barretti
A Green Hollow Perspective
By Elin Schwartz
In 2007, after the Los Angeles City Council voted to designate the Barry Building as an historical cultural monument, I was given the responsibility of acting as a neighborhood liaison by Councilman Bill Rosendahl.
Since then we have been engaged in a continuing dialogue about how to achieve a responsible development, sensitive to the needs of both Brentwood residents and business interests. The City process is an arduous one for all parties.
Integral to this process is the Project Developer’s obligation to conduct an environmental review of potential impacts. Part of that review process includes presenting project alternatives, one of which is required to be a serious effort to preserve the Barry Building.
At the request of the BHA, the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR), released earlier this year, was analyzed by a land use attorney and traffic engineer, who found the DEIR to be inadequate. Here is a brief distillation of the major areas of concern:
1) Inadequate and Inaccurate Analyses of Traffic Impacts
~Flawed trip generation calculations that fail to consider adjacent intersections and artificially reduce a potential 2,400 net additional car trips to 1,500.
~ Failure to address the many impacts of cut-through traffic and congestion.
~Exiting vehicle management in conflict with the CVS driveway and westerly congestion.
~Failure to analyze the impact of increased traffic on emergency response.
2) Inadequate Analysis of Construction Impact:
~ Equipment staging and resulting sidewalk and/or lane closures.
~ Haul routes.
~ Construction crews’ parking.
~ Noise levels.
3) Inadequate Analysis of Project Alternatives, including Building Preservation
Of the DEIR’s approximately 2,000 pages, 67 are devoted to the discussion of four alternatives to the developer’s project. Of those 67 pages, Alternative 4 (the Preservation Alternative) – which the DEIR concedes to be the Alternative with the fewest negative impacts — is given ELEVEN pages.
With the Final EIR due to be released any day now, it is my hope that these deficiencies will have been corrected and that the result will be a project that works within the constraints of an already over-taxed infrastructure, recognizes the historical designation of the Barry Building, and balances the true needs of the community with the goals of the developer.
For more information:
downsizegreeenhollowsquare.org
Public Hearing Process for
Development Projects in Los Angeles
• Once the Final Environmental Impact Report is determined to be complete by the City Planning Department, the project will be assigned to a Hearing Officer.
• The first public hearing will take place with this Hearing Officer, who will create a report.
• The second public hearing is with the City Planning Commission (CPC). The Hearing Officer will present his/her report to the CPC and the CPC will vote on the project.
• The third public hearing is with the Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee of the Los Angeles City Council. Currently, three Los Angeles City Councilmembers make up the PLUM Committee. These Councilmembers will vote to move the project forward to the next hearing.
• The final step in the approval process is the Los Angeles City Council public hearing where the Los Angeles City Councilmembers will vote to approve, conditionally approve, or deny the project.
