Hollywood United Neighborhood Council

DRAFT

Hollywood United Neighborhood Council Board Meeting
Minutes for July 17, 2006
6:30-8:30 PM
Community Room
First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood

Agenda Item 1 ---Roll Call & Approval of Minutes from June 19, 2006 Meeting.

· Meeting called to order at 6:35pm by President Susan Polifronio .

· Roll Call : Present: Robert Abrahamian , Jordan Birnbaum , Russell Brown, Ann DeBello , Maurece Chesse , , Joel Fisher, Norma Foster, Scott Larson, Susan Polifronio , David Schlessinger , Gary Slossberg, Susan Swan. Excused: Charles Suhayda Unexcused: Andrew Ettinger , Viktoria Gaw , Hilary Royce,

· Minutes from the June 19, 2006 board meeting were approved after review and corrections. Correction made to Item 3B regarding Russ Brown's comments regarding the Clarett Project Apartment to the Russ's PLUM Committee report (Item 6). Susan Swan asked for stipulation to write a letter regarding the Board's motion on this project. Motion: Joel Fisher: To approve the minutes. Second: Jordan Birnbaum . V OTE: Yes - 12, No - 0, Abstain- 0

Agenda Item 2 --- Police Dept Lead Officers Hollywood Crime & Safety Report

Lead officer was not present, so Joel Fisher gave the report.

Joel - The crime figures are a bit better than last month. A couple of other things: There was an attempted kidnapping and sexual assault in the Hollywood/Vine area at 5:30pm on Sunday. The police department is trying to do registration of masked performers at Hollywood/Highland. There's been an increase in homeless persons coming from the Downtown and Glendale areas, causing more episodes on Hollywood Blvd., such as sleeping on sidewalks and near buildings. One response is for the police to spend more time in the morning moving people. There's the Ambassador's program, which involves a team of people, with no weapons, that are friendly and informative to homeless persons. The Superclub is being built on Wilcox and Hollywood. It's not in an area, but we can speak on this issue if we make an agreement with other NCs .

Agenda Item 3 --- Presentations & Discussions

3A. 912 Commission Central Area Commissioner: Jeff Jacoberger : I wanted to introduce myself to the Council. If you have any questions or concerns, please e-mail or call me: jacobergerj@sbcglobal.net ; 323-653-7883. Regular meetings of the Commission will be on the 1 st Thursday of each month, location TBA. You can agendas for the meetings through the City's Early Notification System.

3B. Hollywood Park: Don Scott Presentation request for letter of support and funds towards Caltrans Study: For possible Action

Don Scott - I'm requesting a letter of support for the Hollywood Park. (He passed out maps of the proposed park.) We borrowed this idea from Pheonix . Part of the freeway will be underground with the park on top. It will be $150 per square feet. It may take 5-10 years to create. The State owns the land. We're envisioning a 40 acre promenade with a fountain. We could also make a band shell and/or amphitheatre. It would be between Hollywood Blvd. and Sunset Blvd. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has agreed to put staff time on this. Right now, we're looking for funds and public input. This project will also cut down on noise and pollution. CRA is supportive, as is Garcetti and CalTrans . They just did a similar project in Sacramento. We want to conduct a feasibility study. The estimated cost is $150 million. There are a lot of possibilities. We need to show politicians that there's community support. Would like you to sign as an organization or individuals to a letter of support. Robert - Parking? Don - We need it. Two major issues are parking and security. Robert - It's a great concept. Do you have specifics? Don - Not yet. Susan P. - The proposed study would answer some of these questions. Russ - Today's request is to support the general concept. Norma - I'm in favor. I've been part of it for more than 6 months. It's a great vision. It gives us green space that we don't have. Motion: Norma - Motion for $5000 for seed money for Project. Second: Ann. Jordan - I think it would be phenomenal. I voice support. I support $5000 or more. But it's difficult to contribute money to a vague idea. I would rather voice conceptual support and hold off on allocation of money. I would like to see a specific plan first. Susan S. - I agree. Can we fund this, Maurece ? Maurece - Yes. Jordan - I would like to know more specifics first. Don - Money would go towards CalTrans study to find out cost, design, etc. Amended Motion: Norma Foster: For HUNC to pledge $5000 to the Hollywood Central Park Project for a feasibility study when the study is ready to be conducted and to send a letter of support in favor of the project. Second: Jordan Birnbaum Vote : Yes --- 12, No --- 0, Abstain --- 0

Don - If you want to be on the distributions list, contact me.

3C. Chicken Delight Project: 6327 Hollywood Blvd. For possible Action

Russ - 6327 Hollywood Blvd is next to the infamous porno store. Elizabeth Peterson and her representative want to propose a Mexican Restaurant and Community Center there. The project shares boundaries with Central Hollywood NC. It would be both a lunch and dinner project with small-scale entertainment. There would be no dancing, as it's not a night club. Chicken Delight is the name of the existing location, but the name will change. They've agreed to all the PLUM standard conditions of night club/restaurants voluntarily.

David Ambrose - The place was previously Chicken Delight and if approved will be called La Mission. (Passed out folders with proposed menu and agreed upon standard conditions.) There will be 98 indoor seats and 40 outdoor seats. There will be no obstruction of the Blvd. Only 1 floor. A Traditional Mexican restaurant. We're looking at putting a giant tree in the restaurant. We want to activate the whole front of the restaurant. There will be no live entertainment except for a roaming Mariachi band. No dancing allowed, but a DJ for background music. We're in negotiations for 80 parking spaces. Jordan - What's holding up parking negotiations? David - I'm not involved directly. It's probably a matter of money. Susan P . - Is any parking being taken away? David - I don't know. David Schlessinger - Are you before our Board because of a liquor license? David - No. We present all projects to NCs . Norma - When will we know about sufficient parking? David - We're in final negotiations for the parking spots. Norma - What's the deadline for getting spots? David - We need at least 14 spots before we can go forward. Ann - Has anyone considered building up on current parking spaces (more levels)? Would you support getting behind that? David We're intimately involved in transportation issues, but we are in the restaurant business, not the business of building parking structures. Robert - You'll have a hard time finding parking. There's no building in the area. Not a lot of parking in the area. David - We can either find parking or leave the lots in the area vacant. Robert - Will it be open 24 hours? Will there be sound on the patio? David - Yes and yes. There are severe sound restrictions that we must comply with. Robert - Will there be DJs? A bar? David - There will be an ambient DJ for background music. Russ - When we say patio, it's a bit confusing. It's tabling in front of the building. They will recess the building back 20 feet. It will have marble walls, which will significantly control noise. All noise is self-contained. This will be a place to invite friends and family and to have an event. Gary - I'm concerned about the pervasive amount of sexual harassment towards female restaurants workers. Will there be training on sexual harassment at this restaurant? David - Our operator already does that. Jordan - It's city law as well to do so.

Motion: Russell Brown - To approve the application for La Mission contingent on the existing PLUM standard conditions and also contingent on the developers working towards obtaining at least 80 parking spaces. Second: Joel Fisher

Robert - I think we should think about it a little more. I have 50 conditions for my business. They only have 28. I don't think the patio should be open 24 hours. I'd like to see the parking lease now. There's some condition to go over before we should support it. Ann - I have a problem with 24 hours plus the fact that there will be condos on the north side. David - We're working with the Broadway Building and Palisades lots and other developers. All developers have asked us to activate the Blvd. - We're working with the Broadway Building and Palisades lots and other developers. All developers have asked us to activate the Blvd. Susan P. - When is the last call? David - 1:45am.

VOTE: Yes --- 8, No --- 2, Abstain --- 2

Agenda Item 5 ---Executive Committee Reports

Vice President Report - Susan Swan - We have 540 members on the yahoo alert list.

President Report - Susan Polifronio - 1. Thanks for signing the card for Charles. It will be in the HUNC office if you want to sign it. 2. The Webee's are in Lebanon. Keep them in your thoughts. 3. There's an art show I went to at Garcetti's office: Clowns without Borders. For orphaned children in Africa with AIDS. They're selling T-shirts as well.

Past President Report - Joel Fisher - Midterm elections for LANC occurred. Brady Westwater was elected as President, and Jim Alger was elected as Vice President. Good balance between the areas for all the elected officers.

5A. Treasurer's Report - Maurece Chesse - The budget was approved by DONE. Christine - On the DONE website, we have the updated budget.

5B. Upcoming 2nd Annual Fire Fighter's Festival to be held in October, Report on Regional Fire Station

Ann - They need a lot of help with outreach for the festival.

Russ - There's a proposed ballot initiative for November election to have flexibility to split area for fire station and to make old 82 a training facility. David S. - I'm very concerned that the developers came before us with a 1000 space site here and there, but we still need a site for the fire station. Did we send them a letter voicing our disappointment? Jordan - Yes. Susan P. - We've received no response yet. Ann - Also, in front of the committee and city council, we've voiced concerns. Norma - Through the state assembly and city council, Prop F funding is available for building the new 82 fire station.

5C. Joel M. Fisher: HERO Process, request for funds $5000.00 for discussion and action

Joel - A letter in support of HERO will go to the Public Safety Committee next month then back to the Board. The program is looking for alternatives for people spiraling towards homelessness.

Agenda Item 6 ---Committees

Election Committee: Gary - The mailer went out 2 Fridays ago. It went out a bit late because of the post office's delay. The election information session was on Wednesday, July 12 at 6:30pm. The next event is the Candidate Information Session on July 25.

Norma - We sent out an e-mail to publicize the election events and post flyers. This was fortunate since the post office was late with the mailers. Christine - DONE will print 1 page for the mailer. Norma - We will have to pay for the majority of the mailer costs for this year. Susan S. - If you send the mailer to me, I'll put it on the website. Norma - We need people to sign-up for outreach. We have shifts in the mornings and shifts on the afternoons on the Saturdays leading up to the elections. Board members running for seats can still staff the tables. Susan S. - Can you include something on stakeholder forms so that we know if they're already on the list? Norma - Yes.

PLUM: Russ - We had no meeting last week because of the election meeting and I was out of town. The next PLUM meeting will be on Wednesday, August 2 at 7pm at the Church. If you want to be on the working taskforce for covenants for developers, let me know. CRA has a Town hall meeting on the Hollywood/Western project on Wednesday, August 16.

6A. Gower Task Force Report

Ann - Terri Geiger, Stephen Box, and myself had a meeting with the CRA. The only thing determined is that the architect will be from the LA area.

6B. All four items for discussion and possible action

1. Proposed letter to La Bonge re: Involvement of and notification to HUNC of vacation of Green Oak:,

Susan S. - The Homeowner Association was never informed of the meeting to discuss vacation of Green Oak. I'd like to send a letter. I will write a letter for consideration at the next Board meeting.

2. Letter of concern re: splitting of HUNC into separate field deputy areas

Susan S. - We heard last month that our district is being split into two districts. I want to write a letter to recommend that Patty Malone keep Griffith Park issues and that Doug Mensman keep residential issues. David S. - I don't see how your proposal will heal the wound. The basic problem is that there are 2 people in place of 1. I don't see how giving parts to each solves the problem. Ann - We should also send a letter to LaBonge's office to request that one of his deputies come to these meetings. Motion: Susan S. - To recommend to Labonge to have Patty Malone deal with Park and Open Space issues and to have Doug Mensman deal with Planning and Safety and other residential areas of concern. Second: Ann. Norma - Eric S. sent a letter with the new roles of each field deputy. Jim McQuiston - Sending LaBonge a letter is not in good taste. You need to work with his representatives. If you can't attend a meeting, you need a send another Board Member. Susan P. - The letter will come back to the Board to August.

3. Local Red Flag Day Update

Susan S. - I took a long ride with Chief Fry on Saturday touring Beachwood and the Oaks. The current plan is that on those streets that are considered essential for access that no-parking signs and red-zones will be replaced and DOT will be given the authority to tow without the 72-hour limitation. On those corners that are deemed pinch-points, both sides of the street will be towable -no-parking on Red Flag days. Residents will be able to parallel-park in their driveways/aprons so long as access is assured. The maps are still works-in-progress. It appears that this will give the LAFD the access they need and yet not impact the community in too radical a manner. HUNC had expressed the opinion that if DOT enforced the current no-parking areas that access would be better, and it appears that this is a major part of the approach now being taken. The LAFD is also requesting that dumpsters be limited in these areas to smaller roll-away dumpsters. In the near future, the LAFD will be looking for assistance in the community to post Red Flag warnings the night before on cars affected. A long-term goal is also to tie these efforts in to a greater plan for emergency preparedness and possible evacuation plans. The Red Flag signs should be going in within a month or so.

4. Hollywoodland Homeowner's Assoc. request for HUNC letter to Councilman La Bonge supporting asphalt paving in Hollywoodland

Motion: Susan S. - Letter of support to Councilmen LaBonge to support HHA's request for asphalt in Hollywoodland . Second: Ann. Russ - Wasn't this never done because George thought it should only be conrete ? Norma - Concrete would cost substantially more. I support this letter. VOTE: Yes --- 12 ;, No --- 0, Abstain --- 0.

6C. LANC Report

Agenda Item 7 ---Public Comment Items Not on the Agenda

Agenda Item 8 ---Old Business

8A. Grievance Ctte for possible action - Susan P. - We need to resolve the grievance committee issue because the system is not working. It will be referred to Bylaws Committee. Russ - Christine, does DONE have a standard template for the grievance committee? Christine - You already have it.

Agenda Item 9---New Business

Norma - Gateway to Hollywood project o Gower is near completion. We will be handing over the bill to Maurece . HUNC approved $1000 about a year ago for the project.

Susan P. - Christine accepted a job with Wendy Gruel. She no longer will be with DONE. Last day is on July 28. Thank you for all you've done.

Christine - There are up to $10000 available for projects through the Community Beautification Grants. It's a great opportunity to partner up with a community group. The NC can possibly provide matching funds.

Jim McQuistion - I brought a poster to try to get people to join the police department. You must be a High School graduate and be at least 20.5 years of age. The minimum salary is $52,000. You can't have any convictions for hard drug use.

9A. Sunset Junction Fair August 26th and 27th

Meeting adjourned at 8:43pm.