October 1, 2018
Picfair Village Neighborhood Association General Meeting
Introductions: Michael Plante introduced the new PVNA board members:
Michael Plante – president
Andrew Schulman. – vice president
Valerie Goodson – treasurer
Michael Osowski – secretary
Public Comments:
– 8th Annual Pumpkin Race – Oct 28th on Pickford between Sierra Bonita and Carmona (Click here for more information and to volunteer)
– Great LA Walk on Nov 17th from downtown LA to the beach on Pico – this year’s walk is honoring Jonathan Gold
– Comment on the importance of protecting our community in light of the recent large scale residential developments.
– Earthquake Brace & Bolt – offering financial assistance to have your house bolted has opened up for registration. Click here to sign up or email info@earthquakebraceandbolt.
– Recode Zoning Advisory Committee meets monthly and this is a great way for LA residents to learn about the zoning process and land use/development – next meeting is Oct 24th 6-8pm
Update from treasurer on finances: as of Sept 4th, we have $969.14
1546 – 1550 S Orange Grove Development: Tania Missed gave an update on the 1546-1550 S Orange Grove Ave development.
- Background given that this is a TOC (Transit Oriented Community), 5 story, 28 unit proposed building.
- The current development height exceeds existing Q Conditions.
- Tania and Geoff Missad filed an appeal opposing this development. This is the first appeal against a TOC in Los Angeles.
- They hired Jamie Hall – an attorney that has worked on past land use cases. He recommended getting a CEQA expert to do a cumulative analysis of the project – studies on how the development impacts traffic, infrastructure, water, etc.
- Tania and Geoff also hired a surveyor to measure the actual distance from the development to the Pico/Fairfax transit stop.
- The appeal hearing is set for October 25th 8:30am in Van Nuys regarding this development. The Missads are coordinating / chartering a bus or some type of transit to the hearing.
- She gave a reminder of their Go Fund Me page to help pay for the attorney and surveyor expenses.
To stay on top of information related to this development, please email Geoff Missad so he can add you to the Missads email list.
Comments to the Orange Grove development update:
– Orange Grove and Hi Point are sought after by developers.
– If the Missads win appeal or possible trial, it will set precedent for future LA development, and the interplay between TOC and Q Conditions.
– Liz Carlin gave comments – Herb Wesson’s office met with the developer, but she does not think that the developer will revise the development to decrease its size. However, she brought up other options to fight this type of development:
- Encourages residents to join / participate in city planning land use committee
- Coordinate the talking points for the appeal on Oct 25th. There is usually a time limit of just a couple of minutes for people to speak at the appeal so it’s important to be concise and not repetitive. (The Missads and their attorney will be coordinating talking points for those who are interested in speaking at the appeal meeting)
– 20 people at the general meeting expressed interest in attending the appeal
– There were recommendations to request discretionary funds from Herb Wesson’s office and the PVNA fund to help pay for the bus/transport to the hearing in Van Nuys.
New PVNA Initiatives:
**Sign up sheets were given for community members interested in getting involved in the below 3 initiatives. Register online HERE to participate in any of these initiatives**
– Neighborhood Social Events: Holiday Lights/decoration walk through Picfair Village
– Welcoming New Residents: providing welcome information and sharing what makes Picfair Village great with new residents
– New Disaster Preparedness program with CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) and LAEMD (Los Angeles Emergency Mgmt Dept) (see below)
A presentation was given by Chin and Dennis from CERT:
– CERT and the LAEMD would like to pilot a new ‘adopt a neighborhood’ program with Picfair Village to help get us prepared for a disaster/emergency
This will be a four-phase program and take place over approximately 12 months:
– Phase 1 – RYLAN (Ready Your LA Neighborhood) workshop
— question on if this could be done in conjunction with neighborhood watch? (Answer: TBD)
– Phase 2 – Basic Skills Training: turning off gas, water, etc. “9 Easy Steps” handout was given.
— Normally, CERT training lasts 7 weeks, 1 night/week, classes are approx 3 hours. (more info can be found here)
– Phase 3 – Team Formation: block leads, incident command, organization, team dynamic
– Phase 4 – Follow up from CERT, practice drills, refresher training, etc.
***Register online HERE to participate in this initiative or the others listed above***
ADJOURN
