Hollywood United Neighborhood Council

DRAFT
Hollywood United Neighborhood Council Board Meeting
Minutes for August 21, 2006
6:30-8:30 PM
Community Room
First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood

Agenda Item 1 ---Roll Call & Approval of Minutes from July 17, 2006 Meeting.
· Roll Call : Present: Jordan Birnbaum, Ann DeBello, Russell Brown, Maurece Chesse, Andrew Ettinger, Joel Fisher, Norma Foster, Viktoria Gaw, Scott Larson, Susan Polifronio, Hilary Royce, Charles Suhayda. Excused Absence: Robert Abrahamian, David Schlessinger, Gary Slossberg, Susan Swan.

· Minutes from the July 17, 2006 board meeting were approved after review and corrections. Motion: Joel Fisher: To approve the minutes. Second: Russ Brown.

VOTE: Yes - 12 No - 0 Abstain--0

Agenda Item 2 -Police Dept Lead Officers Hollywood Crime & Safety Report.
The report was given by Senior Lead Officer Danny (a new SLO for Hollywood; his area is the theater district near Hollywood/Highland). Announcements:

LAPD is establishing e-policing website. You can log-on and obtain daily information on neighborhoods.
LAPD will offer another Community Police Academy. The 11-week course will run from September 7 th through November 16 th .

Summary of concerns & crime 7/16 through 8/12, 2006:

6A15 ---3 aggravated assaults, 20 BTFV, 10 residential burglaries, 3 robberies, most crime occurs on Friday night between midnight and 6 AM.
6A37 ---4 aggravated assaults, 20 BTFV, 9 residential burglaries, 5 stolen cars, 13 recovered stolen cars, 8 robberies, 2 rapes.
6A49 ---(Armen Sevdalian) 2 aggravated assaults, 1 BTFV, 3 residential burglaries, 4 grand theft auto, 7 recovered stolen cars, 1 rape, 4 robberies. Most crime occurs on Wednesday between 1 AM and 6 AM.

Motion by Joel Fisher, "To move Public Comment-Items not on the Agenda forward as the next agenda item." Second by Scott Larson. Vote: Yes---12 No-0.

Agenda Item 7 ---Public Comment-Items not on the Agenda:

1) Arthur Rubenstein---Symphony in the Glen. There are 2 dates for performances:

· September 10 th -Grandparents Day. Admission is free. An All Mozart Concert at 6 PM.

· October 15 th ---Witch's Brew. A program for kids at 4:30 PM; Concert at 6 PM. Event will be held at the old zoo in Griffith Park.

2) Alexander Von Wechmar-A board member of the Oaks HOA. He is expressing the concerns of the neighbors regarding the construction of 2 cell phone towers without any community input. He asked CD4 and the DWP for input but received no response. Now there are 2 sites under construction, one is half-way complete and the other was just started.

3) Raymond Yu---Made an announcement on the LA Triathlon.

Agenda Item 3 -Presentations & Discussions.

A) Rose Arcadia --- Introduced herself as the new Project Manager for the Neighborhood Councils in Hollywood. She announced that the Mayor's Second Annual Budget Day is September 9 th .

B) Sunny Cho--- She is with the Office of the City Clerk, Election Division and is responsible for Multi-Lingual Voter Outreach. The goal of her office is to improve delivery of service to voters on Election Day. Other responsibilities include: offering voter education classes, recruiting High School students to serve as poll workers, and sponsoring community events.

C) Mark S. Siegel ( mark@markus1952.org) presented a brief update on the 912 Commission. The Commission has 29 members and has met three times to date. It has set its by-laws. The goal of the Commission is to look at a spectrum of issues regarding the Neighborhood Council system: training, outreach and diversity, relationship to LANCC, and the Brown Act.

D) Bond Development of the Corner of Garfield and Hollywood Blvd .

1) George Minter (Minter Public Affairs) recounted the recent history of the site-initial proposal was for a Whole Foods Market, second proposal a mixed-used residential property, finally a scaled down version of the mixed-use residential development. Initial mixed-used development proposed: 108 units, 10,000 sq ft of retail, people wanted condos not rentals. Current proposal for mixed-used development: 90 residential units, 6,000 sq ft retail, for sale market-rate condos.

2) Ira Dankberg (Bond Companies). The site is ideal for mixed-use. The community needs high quality housing and design, and neighborhood-serving commercial retail. Community feedback made this a much better project. It is adjacent to the CRA's Hollywood-Western RFP site. Koenig-Eisenberg, the architects hired for this development, specialize in urban, in-fill architecture and mixed-use development. Some examples of their work: the Farmer's Market (Fairfax & 3 rd ) and Plummer Park Community Center (W. Hollywood). Since January 2006, the architects have used the charette process to incorporate community input into the design of this development. Changes made as a result of neighborhood input: 17% ? in residential units, 40% ? in commercial space, and an increase in parking to 190 parking spaces. In addition, all services will take place inside the building (deliveries, trash, maintenance, etc).

3) Julie Eisenberg and Brian Lane presented a power point on the Hollywood/Garfield development.

4) Motion by Russ Brown of the PLUM Committee----

"The Planning and Land Use Committee of the Hollywood United Neighborhood Council forwards the Bond Companies' Hollywood Garfield project to the full Board of the Neighborhood Council with the Committee's support for the project, as presented, and including all points of discussion and clarifications (as listed below); with the condition that Bond Companies shall continue to work with a Committee of the Neighborhood Council on construction-related issues including time of day work, haul routes, timing and other issues; and also to suggest the types of retail stores desired by the neighborhood.

Discussion Points and Clarifications:

Project to include 90 market-rate residential condominium units, not 108 units
Project to include approximately 6000 sf of ground floor, neighborhood-serving retail, not 10,000 sf
Project to include up to 190 parking spaces not 183, with all parking contained within enclosed garage
Project to include approximately 51 bicycle parking stalls
Along Hollywood Blvd, Project to be approximately 61 feet in height (5 stories total)
The portion of the building facing Garfield Place (north of driveway entry) to step down to 4 stories total.
There will be 4 studio units at ground level along Garfield frontage north of the driveway entry.
Project to include 17 foot rear yard width at north property line
Project to include 22 foot sidewalk along Hollywood Blvd. (inclusive of 7 foot street dedication, if City approves request not to widen Hollywood Blvd.)
Ground floor retail to wrap Hollywood Garfield corner, with corner cut out
Balconies shall be screened fully to approximately 2' 6" feet, and screened partially to approximately 3' 6" feet
Design to reflect both old and new Hollywood, and to integrate with what exists along the Boulevard
Project to include sustainable design and high quality materials
Project to maximize street landscaping and project landscaping
Project to provide open space requirements at podium level (courtyard, etc.)
Project to pay required Quimby fees and Park First fees."

Questions and Comment:

Andrew Ettinger-How long from approval of project to completion of construction? Ira-Looking at a ground breaking in the Spring of '07 and 18 months to finish construction.
KC Schmidt---Gramercy Place resident. He asked if there was an Armenian translator present to help those in attendance. KC gave printed material to the Board with text and diagrams that presented the "Shared Street Concept." The shared street concept is described in the Vermont-Western Station Neighborhood Area Plan. He recounted that the site was initially to be used for a new Fire Station 82 and that this idea was overturned. He said there was an alternative solution if you look at the SNAP. There is a "Parks first" concept in SNAP. There is also a shared street concept, cars are few and far between, and pedestrians are king. The alternative proposal is the "Shared Street Concept" for the Hollywood/Garfield site. Also every developer puts $4,300 into the Quimby fund. He'd like to see HUNC set up a mechanism to bring those dollars back to Hollywood. KC also pointed out the Bond Company proposal doesn't provide any low-income housing, its all market-rate. He indicated that there were 7,500 residential units planned for the area between Cahuenga and Western Ave.
Russ Grown---There will be affordable housing units in the new Hollywood/Western development.
Jim McQuiston-He's prepared a 6-page commentary on the project. There are in his opinion, 18 discrepancies that can easily be fixed. He would like to see the project built.
Richard McNaughton-Eastwood Coalition is not offering an alternative vision. They are offering vision for areas around the lot. Eastwood Coalition wants to work with the developer.
Ziggy Kruse-no one spoke to our area across the street (south side Hollywood Blvd). Please come see me.
Lucy Gonzales---Hollywood needs housing.
Wayne Schlock-These are quality architects.
Dave Monks---He brought his own poster display and made an alternative presentation. This is not low-income housing. Our neighborhood doesn't have a park. The site on St. Andrews (at Hollywood) is not a big enough park. Garfield/Hollywood is the best lot for a park.
Adam Kear-He has 2 concerns: 1) The set back on Garfield-SNAP requires 11' 8", why should we give this up?, 2) Final EIR-He acknowledges the reduced scale of the current proposal, but the EIR is still for the first (larger) plan, not this one.
Cindy Duhaime-concerned about density.
Claudia-She owns a condo. Once these units come in they stay there. We need parks.
Rebuttal by Ira---We need a mixture of housing types. No one is against parks. We'll pay at least $500,000 for Quimby and Parks First.
Jordan Birnbaum---Please respond to the EIR concern. Glenn---The draft EIR was for the larger project. The final EIR notes changes but you don't have to reanalyze for the smaller project. The City will still certify the EIR.

Substitute Motion by Norma Foster, "To defer action on this matter to a later time." Second: Viktoria Gaw. Vote: Yes---3 No---6 Abs---2

Main motion: re-read by Russ Brown. Second: Anne De Bello. Vote: Yes--5 No--1 Abs---6.

Agenda Item 6E ---

1) Motion by Norma Foster, "To clarify that HUNC will abide by the District Description in Article V, Section B of the by-laws, and not the description in Attachment B, for the 2006 Election, and that HUNC will make an addendum to the election procedures with the corrected map." Second: Anne DeBello. Vote: Yes-8 No-0 Abs---2.

2) Motion by Norma Foster, "To allocate $5,000 to the Election Committee for election outreach and events. Second: Susan Polifronio. Vote: Yes---12 No-0 Abs---0.

3) Motion by Norma Foster, "To approve the draft election mailer as presented and to empower the Election Committee to finalize the mailer prior to its mass distribution. Second: Jordan Birnbaum. Vote: Yes-11 No---0 Abs-0.

Agenda Item 8B - 2 nd Annual Fire Fighter Festival.

Motion: Anne DeBello, "To approve $250 for a HUNC booth at the Fire Fighters Festival." Second: Jordan Birnbaum. Vote: Yes---11 No---0 Abs---0.

Treasurers Report -Presented by Maurece Chesse.

Adjourned

Board minutes prepared by Charles Suhayda, Recording Secretary.