Archives

All posts by Antoine Durr

Proposed Development Along Sepulveda

Posted by Antoine Durr on July 28, 2007
Posted in: Development. Leave a comment
This project, proposed to run South on Sepulveda from Sawtelle to Slauson and Jefferson, has generated a great deal of controversy.  The City has established an oversight committee known as the Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) and one of its members is our own CCNA Board member, Howard Lichtman, who is an architect and well qualified to comment on the project.  On June 27th, the CAC held a meeting with Culver City residents.  Bob Champion presented his latest project proposals, including renderings and daylight analysis studies.  
 
Many citizens vocalized their discontent with the project, raising concerns over increased traffic, school population enrollment increases, need for additional city services, and the very real possibility that Culver City would lose its small town feel and the mom and pop type businesses that currently occupy that stretch.
 
By the end of the evening, the CAC recommended to the C.C. Redevelopment Agency that the Champion Development project be put on hold and that the City Planning Division needs to develop a Sepulveda Blvd. Corridor Specific Plan that will re-examine and re-zone this area to reduce the allowable building height and consider reducing the allowable units per acre.  The current zoning allows for a 56 foot tall building with 65 residential units per acre.  Obviously, much more to come on this issue.
 
Your CCNA Board has yet to take a stance on this issue as we are waiting to see what concrete proposals will be offered before weighing in.  If you have any thoughts, we’d love to have you express them directly to us

L.A. Sewer Project

Posted by Antoine Durr on July 28, 2007
Posted in: Sewers. Leave a comment
There is another sewer project beginning shortly.  The City of Los Angeles has funded a project to rehabilitate the sewers that run under West Los Angeles College and south under the Crest, running past Fox Hills Mall and used by the Crest Neighborhood.  The project is a clean out and then a replacement of the lining, intended to upgrade service and any noxious odors.  This restored sewer line will last for the next hundred years.  
 
The local service access point will be near the entrance to West Los Angeles College in the maintenance parking lot.  A 16’ sound wall will be constructed around the project and the new haul road (temporary and later permanent access road) will be used for construction traffic.  While it is anticipated that this project will take place almost entirely underground, it will still require some 5 large trucks per day to haul away the detritus of decades needed to prepare the tunnel for the new liner, which will consist of concrete and plastic.  The project is expected to take some three years.  The City of Los Angeles has committed that there will be no interruption of service and will not cause any other inconvenience including noise, traffic or odor.  The project is projected to last through 2010.

Local Sewer Repair Started

Posted by Antoine Durr on July 28, 2007
Posted in: Sewers. Leave a comment

Culver City has commenced its repair of our local sewers.  The initial phase of this work is scheduled to be done on Smiley, Commonwealth and Blackwelder.  As the project progresses, the crews will begin work on the Crest  streets.  Construction on the Crest is due to start in mid July 2007.  The City intends to send out notices to those residents directly affected by the work.  

Safety Improvements

Posted by Antoine Durr on July 28, 2007
Posted in: Traffic. Leave a comment
Have you noticed the red paint on the curbs up and down Ranch?  True to his word, Gabe Garcia, the City Traffic Engineering Manager, has begun the agreed upon safety improvements along the hill.   New paint, center striping, new signs and some of those cool center street reflectors will make it easier to navigate the curves and hopefully slow down the cars dangerously speeding this street.  Please advise your neighbors and watch your own speed.  Please slow down when traversing the hill.
 
The City is continuing to study improvements for Crest traffic and will do the work in stages. The next area under consideration is the intersection of Ranch, Kelmore and Overland.  While the City gears up for the study, please consider what changes you might wish to see at this intersection and email them to us at culvercity99 (at) aol (dot) com.   Your input will be invaluable.  Watch for a notification of when the City will be asking for resident input.

Moratorium Extended / EIR

Posted by Antoine Durr on July 28, 2007
Posted in: PXP Oil. Leave a comment
Way to go Culver Crest Neighborhood Association!!   It is generally acknowledged (and yes, we are tooting our own horn here) that our involvement was one of the key factors in the County of Los Angeles’ extending the moratorium on all new drilling and expanded drilling until May 27, 2008.  During this time, the County will be conducting a full scope Environmental Impact Report (EIR) with personal supervision by L.A. County Supervisor Yvonne Burke.  To say the least, we have been extremely successful due to the diligent efforts of your board and with the immense help of Ken Kutcher.
 
On June 28, 2007, the County mailed to interested parties a notice of their intent to conduct the EIR and involve the community in a series of scoping meetings in order to obtain input from interested parties.  Your CCNA Board Member Antoine Durr hosted such a meeting in April where more than 20 of your neighbors appeared to identify areas of concern.
 
A Community Standards District (CSD) has been proposed by the County to update and regulate the activities of the PXP oil fields including development standards, operating requirements and procedures for all oil and gas operations in the Baldwin Hill.
Are we done?  Is it over?  Not even close!  Next for us is to monitor the progress of the EIR.  To that end, you are urged to attend the Scoping Review meeting, to be held at the Veterans Auditorium on July 24th.   This is a public meeting to examine if the scope of the EIR is complete, or if there are any additional unaddressed concerns.  We already know that some of the odor issues have been significantly downplayed, so please attend that meeting and make sure that your concerns make it into the Scoping Review process.
 
The County’s website for the EIR process is: planning.co.la.ca.us/spBH.htm.  It describes all the various stages and schedules, and has a history of the issues.  Additionally, the process has been covered in depth by Gary Walker of the Culver City  News, highlighting CCNA board members for the past several months.

Burglary on Flaxton

Posted by Antoine Durr on July 28, 2007
Posted in: Block Captains. Leave a comment
Unfortunately, we had a rarity on the Crest recently.  There was a burglary on Flaxton.  The police interviewed two witnesses and this is a synopsis of their account of the incident.  The burglary took place at around 9:30 am when the owner took the kids to school and ran some errands, retuning at about 12:30 pm to find her house had been ransacked.  Miscellaneous jewelry and a laptop computer were stolen.  Although the doors and windows were locked from the inside, the burglar figured out a way to jimmy open the sliding glass door at the rear of the home.  The perpetrators have not been apprehended.
 
We all have a duty to report suspicious activities in our neighborhood to help prevent these types of crimes.  Many of our neighbors have called the police when they see suspicious activities and the police encourage us to do so.  They have no problem investigating a false alarm.  It’s much better than having apathy from the neighbors while possibly a real crime is taking place.  The police department will be more than grateful that you take an active role.  So will your neighbors!

Significant Change in Plans

Posted by Antoine Durr on July 28, 2007
Posted in: West L.A. College. Leave a comment
There has been a significant change in the plans of the College.  Its agreement to build a berm to shield our neighborhood, both during and after the College’s construction projects, have been stymied by Southern California Edison, which will not allow the College to use any portion of the dirt area between Stocker Road and Culver Crest. This means the College may not be able to construct the berm which, pursuant to the terms of our 2005 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), must be built concurrently with both the new parking structure at the top of Stocker and the second access road connecting the College to Jefferson, of which both projects are almost ready to begin.
 
A new subcommittee consisting of Board Members Mark Salkin, Howard Lichtman and Marlene Rose will review alternate mitigation measures that the College has advised it is in the process of preparing.

Hillside Damage on Tellefson

Posted by Antoine Durr on July 28, 2007
Posted in: Hillside. Leave a comment
GOOD NEWS- PART 2.  The last time you read “Good News” in this column, it was a false alarm.  The City didn’t anticipate the complexities of the lawsuits that were flying around at the time that put a halt to any activity to repair the hill.  Now, though, it appears everything is in order to commence with this project.  The City has completed the plans for the repairs needed to make the hillside above Tellefson safe again.  These plans are out for bid and proposals to fix the hill should be back in the City’s hands by July 12, 2007.  We are then on track for a contract bid to be awarded on July 23 with the work to commence around August 13, 2007.  The completion date is due by the end of November, hopefully before any significant rains show up.  We have never heard the City officials so confident about this project and actually gave us a specific timetable that they plan to follow. 
 
One of the homes atop Cranks has been purchased by the City and will possibly be torn down for use as construction staging (storing equipment and the like). When the project is complete, the City will re-sell the property and return it to private hands.  A second home, owned by the Vendeweghe family, may also fall under this provision depending on necessity.  Before Thanksgiving, we will all again be allowed to traverse Tellefson.  Your Culver Crest Neighborhood Association appreciates your continued patience during this trying inconvenience.  

Howard Lichtman Appointed to Advisory Group

Posted by Antoine Durr on April 28, 2007
Posted in: Development. Leave a comment

Congratulations to Howard Lichtman, a Culver Crest Neighborhood Association Board Member, for being appointed to the Sepulveda Redevelopment Citizens Advisory Committee.  This is a group of 9 residents and business people who are assigned to review the Champion Realty’s proposal to develop the west side of Sepulveda Boulevard between Sawtelle Boulevard and Slauson Avenue.  They will report their findings and make recommendations to the Culver City Redevelopment Agency.  Howard, who is an architect and well qualified to provide valuable input to the Committee, will represent Culver Crest and the Blanco Park neighborhoods.