New city transportation plan could cut traffic, Greuel says

Article in this week's Sun - suncommunitynewspapers.com

New city transportation plan could cut traffic, Greuel says
BY NAZBANOO PAHLAVI

City Councilmember Wendy Greuel addressed the need for L.A.’s new transportation-focused strategic plan at the January 23 meeting of Neighborhood Council Valley Village held at Colfax Avenue Elementary School. The plan, unveiled in December, would set guidelines for transportation projects in Los Angeles over the next 20 years.

“We think it’s so critically important that we have a document that says, ‘here are our priorities,’” said Greuel, 2nd district representative and Chair of the City Council’s Transportation Committee.

A cohesive plan would benefit not only community members, she said, but also unite the City Council itself, whose 15 members each hold different views on the issue.

Greuel outlined the city’s three-phase approach to the strategic plan process, beginning with the initial stage of gathering community-wide feedback at neighborhood meetings and via the second council district’s website.

Phase two will require an assessment of current traffic conditions and future traffic needs – focusing on areas of job concentration and projections of growth. Phrase three will see through the strategic plan’s implementation.

Greuel discussed a list of objectives the city wants reflected in the plan, such as upholding environmental sustainability – a goal toward which city government has already started preliminary work with the Environmental Defense Fund. Other goals include safety and reliability, and quality of life issues in neighborhoods.

The reduction of traffic congestion on the flow of goods and services would also promote economic growth by encouraging major industries to do business in Los Angeles, she added.

The councilmember emphasized the creation of a “seamless” system – a goal that may prove difficult since it involves reorganizing a disharmonious public transportation system already firmly in place.

She admitted it’s even difficult for her to get to the Universal MTA stop from her home near Laurel Canyon and Moorpark, to take the subway downtown. The MTA unwisely limited parking at the Universal station in order to encourage all around public transportation use – a decision that did not take into account the lack of efficient connections.

Greuel stressed that all levels of government must contribute to finding a solution to traffic and transportation problems.

“[The city is] responsible for your roads and streets; we’re responsible for your DASH buses, commuter express, for your signalization, for your speed humps – those are the kinds of things that we have,” she said, noting that the city does not have control over the freeways or the MTA, but has “to coordinate and be part of a solution with those other levels of government.”

After the discussion, Greuel was asked to stay and swear in a newly elected board member, as well as listen to a group of discontented Morella Avenue homeowners opposed to new developments in their neighborhood.

Why I love neighborhood council meetings

A couple of nights ago, I braved the blistering rain that barraged the Valley to make it to a neighborhood council meeting I was scheduled to write about for the paper. I like driving in the rain. It's a challenge. The blurriness, the intensity of the wind shield wipers, and the necessity of being fully awake and aware, are all exciting to me. Of course there are a fair share of thoughtless drivers who speed accross puddles in the intersections, and bridges with staled rainwater, thereby covering my windshield with a temporary avalanche.

After some confusion over the location of the meeting, I finally made it to Colfax Elementary School - nothing fancy, and probably the perfect location for a run of the mill neighborhood council meeting. Of course, this wasn't Studio City, whose neighborhood council meetings are held at the CBS Radford Lot. This was the neighborhood council meeting for Valley Village - Studio City's "adjacent" neighbor further north of the boulevard. Of course, homes in Valley Village cost considerably less than homes in Studio City. And higher incomes make for higher.....egos....or more interesting personalities! Let me explain.

I attended Studio City's Neighborhood Council meeting last November for a news item in the Studio City Sun (the story is posted to the right). It was held in a room at the CBS Radford Studios - which felt like a city in itself filled with little streets and alleyways and what looked like condominiums. In fact, I even asked a security guard whether people actually lived in there. Dale Thrush, a representative for Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, attended that meeting to discuss the charette process for a stretch of Ventura in Studio City.

After speaking for a pre-designated amount of time, the board unleashed a hoard of questions and comments. At first, this attack made me uncomfortable, especially since it was all monitored to the minute by the board president, lest any one speaker took hostage of the time. I saw why Greuel herself was a no show. This board was fierce! And you know what? It made it for interesting community politics and interesting democratic participation. That's why I stayed around for over an hour and half, ate some pizza, grabbed a soda - over twice the length of time I stayed after the Valley Village meeting had finally started.

Wendy Greuel did attend the council meeting at Valley Village (I'm glad, since that was the only reason I wrestled the rain). And I could see why. The Valley Village board was much more polite than the Studio City crowd. They were much more apt to let someone finish talking before interrupting (although Greuel herself did talk over someone in the audience). And since Ms. Gruel herself does live in the Valley Village area (I believe), it seemed only fitting for her to be there.

But there were a lot of loose strings left over on the topic of public transportation, development, and especially on the issue of mansionization and a community of homeowners on Morella who are facing a troubling developer. Greuel gave her speech, the floor was opened briefly to a few innocuous comments, she replied with some innocuous and distracted answers, and that was it. Luckily, she was asked, very nicely, to stay around and listen to the Morella homeowners, but she failed to step up to the plate and take hold of the situation with any promised results. She referred the homeowners to stay in touch with one of her staffers, a gentleman who was acknowledged as the main liasion between her office and her consituents. Greuel actually seemed pretty eager to leave.

And that's exactly what I saw when I left the meeting about 5 minutes after Greuel did (although the meeting was still in process). Was that her I saw speeding off in a huge white SUV? If that was indeed her, I now understand a couple of the comments she made during the meeting.

For example, in making a case for public transportation and a more "seamless" system where people don't have to wait hours for bus connections, she mentioned that it takes 8 minutes to get from the west valley to the east valley, whereas a bus, filled with inconvenient connections, could take 40 minutes. Eight minutes? really? Now I know how she got that number. Ms. Greuel is a speeder! If that was indeed her, speeding off and taking a left turn on rain-soaked streets, then that all makes sense. I'm glad that by that time, the rain had ceded, otherwise, I'm sure she may have (unintentionally, I'm sure) splashed some water on an unsuspecting driver's windshield. Now if that was someone else and my eyes mislead me when I looked through her window, I apologize.

Maybe I'll see her at the next Studio City Council meeting. I don't think so. But this is definitely true - some of the best drama can be found at the local public elementary school (or CBS lot) where politicians show their true colors, homeowners get heated up over pizza, and community journalists try and find something interesting to write about it.

Ventura redesign timeline urged at SCNC meeting

Article in this week's Sun - http://www.suncommunitynewspapers.com

Ventura redesign timeline urged at SCNC meeting
BY NAZBANOO PAHLAVI

The Studio City Neighborhood Council (SCNC) debated a potential redesign of the stretch of Ventura Boulevard between Colfax and Vineland Avenues at its monthly board meeting November 28 at the CBS Studio Center.

Dale Thrush, Planning Director for City Councilmember Wendy Greuel, attended the meeting to discuss a charrette, a stakeholder gathering aiming to resolve urban design issues through consultation and planning.

The meager process outline Thrush shared described the charrette’s goal “to create land use regulations that will facilitate the replacement of auto-related uses” and potentially include mixed-use housing, business and retail buildings similar to the village-style development of Tujunga Village.

Thrush said officials are currently in the process of assessing the physical limitations, land use regulations and economic feasibility of the project. The outline included rough estimates as to the length of the process goals, but no exact dates.

The SCNC board received Thrush’s outline with disappointment in light of the Land Use Committee’s meeting November 14 in which a detailed charrette report, including a timeline, was expected and not received.

Board member Gail Steinberg accused Thrush of putting profit margins ahead of community concerns, even though he emphasized the importance of “wide community support” before moving forward.

“What about our homeowners and protecting the equities in our homes?” Steinberg asked, adding that the current plan was “unacceptable to the community and to the council.”

Board member Richard Niederberg noted that the development, particularly the projected housing along Ventura Boulevard, would gulp up too much land, available parking, and homeowners’ views.

“One of the engines that will drive the change…is economics,” said Thrush, echoing a sentiment emphasized by other city officials including Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, whose support of smart growth integrating mixed-use projects is well known.

The SCNC board ultimately decided to send a letter to Greuel to urge an expedient and community-involved process for the future of the charrette.

The other hot button item was board secretary John Walker’s report on the progress of the MTA/Universal Community Working Group, for which he is SCNC’s representative. The Working Group is comprised of the four neighborhood councils and 11 long-established residential, business and property owners most affected by the NBC Universal development plans.

Walker stated that the proposed construction includes two 28-storey live/work buildings called “Commons” on the Universal City/MTA site, in addition to another development further north on Lankershim Boulevard that would house 2,900 residential and production facilities.

“Imagine if you will,” Walker stated, “500 trucks a day of dirt for a year and a half before they even begin the process of development. That’s how long the destruction is.” According to Walker, the Working Group plans to buy space in the Los Angeles Daily News to endorse their disapproval with the current state of the project.

The board also discussed the need to financially support the North Hollywood Police Department’s efforts to add updated digital technology in its interrogation room, and elected Jeremy Lipton-Schwartz, a student at Grant High School in Valley Glen, to the board’s Youth Seat.

The SCNC board will not meet in December.