Hollywood United Neighborhood Council

February 9, 2004 Hollywood United Neighborhood Council Public Safety & Transportation Committee Minutes. First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood
6054 Yucca St., Upper Terrace-Community Room. Attending: Russell Brown, Maurece Chesse , Ann De Bello , Joel M. Fisher, Susan Polifronio & members of the Public.

Agenda Item #1 : Welcome & Roll Call
Meeting called to order by Joel M. Fisher at 6:30pm.

Agenda Item #2 : Public Comment on Items not on the Agenda
Jim McQuiston gave a summary of findings regarding the 101 Traffic Flow and Feeder Street recommendations. Area 2 average freeway speed is 40mph & area 3 60mph. DOT will work on retiming signals independent of Freeway. There is a short list for immediate action. The Division of Highways might be eliminated with the budget crisis. No new proposals will be entertained for the next 2 years and all existing projects will be halted. The gas tax money is not being used for roads and there is a danger that the school tax money will not be used for schools as the State takes the revenue. With the vehicle license fee, under Gray Davis, the State was going to take a 40 million dollar loan from LA repayable in two years. The new Governor is proposing a permanent shift of property tax monies to the State and we will never see that money again. The City CAO must come up with a budget by May but the States' budget is not due until October creating a guessing game. The Dept. of Recreation, Social Services and Libraries are at risk. Russell Brown asked about the State ballot measure to correct this. Jim McQuiston said any penalties are light.

Alex Creith , a resident on Longview, asked HUNC for help with parking problems created by the clubs and redlining on the streets. He works at night and cannot find parking when he comes home. He also has a very young daughter and parking 2 to 3 blocks away from a house he owns is unacceptable. Many of the homes built in this area do not have adequate off-street parking. Jessica , a resident on Ivar in the 2000 block asked Susan Polifronio to bring up the same issue. She is a DJ and often comes home at 4:00am and has to park blocks away and run home. She is looking for angled parking to help increase the number of spaces for residents. Joel M. Fisher requested that Alex get a petition signed by his neighbors and then bring it back to Public Safety where he can then bring it to DOT.

Alexander Von Wechmar , a board member of the Oaks Homeowners' Association, wanted to discuss the gate request for one of the streets in the Oaks and was concerned that this might set a precedent for privatizing many of the streets.

Agenda Items #3 and #4 : Status of Crime and Report on the Safety of Children within the HUNC Boundaries:

Susan Polifronio and Joel M. Fisher gave a recap on the current status of crimes. There was a concern by a parent about sex offenders living within close radius to the schools and HUNC was looking into this to make sure that child molesters where not among them. Susan Polifronio handed out "Building Safer Communities" from the safe schools printout and handouts on how to teach young children re: safety and crime issues. There has been an increase in car thefts; a tactical alert is planned for the weekend of Feb. 14th as there will be so much activity around the NBA playoffs.

Agenda Item #5: DASH Update
Susan Polifronio stated that the contract for the current DASH is not in jeopardy. The current contract has been given to one provider for the 3 districts it serves. HUNC is looking to encourage extending the DASH hours, especially weekend nights, to encourage people coming into Hollywood to park their cars for the night and to encourage residents to leave their cars at home and take the DASH to restaurants, bars and movies. Susan Polifronio drove a route from Hollywood/Highland to Western, Franklin, up Beachwood Cyn , back to Franklin to Cahuenga over to Odin and back to Hollywood/Highland. In average busy traffic with stops at the DASH sites (every 3/10th miles) this took 60 minutes. With 5 to 6 buses the wait time would only be approximately 10 minutes. HUNC is looking further into this possibility.

Agenda Item #6: Old Business
6A: Update on Fire Station #82 : There is no confirmed relocation site but the vacant lots at Van Ness and Hollywood plus the surrounding properties are being investigated. This would impact a small mini-mall, a home for unwed moms (they are happy to be bought out) and a small 6 unit apartment building. HUNC will again be moving forward in the request to convert the old #82 on Bronson into a parking garage with some monthly parking for residents who wish to purchase space and for visitors to the neighborhood. A contractor who looked at the space last year stated that 200 to 400 spaces could be fit in. Alexander Von W . stated he has some concern for traffic at the proposed site and how would the Fire Dept. handle it during rush hour. The Oaks is still in favor of Florentine Gardens.

6B : Update on Parking Issues within the HUNC boundaries:

The angled parking study on Yucca has been concluded and we are waiting to hear from CD13 as to the disposition.

Agenda Item #7: New Business
Joel M. Fisher reported on the CORO Foundation street closure recommendations and found the study very light on information. He expected a template on how to handle the closures and an investigation into Cities with problems similar to Hollywood.

Mabel , a journalism student at USC, asked us about the attitude within the HUNC boundaries: What type of issues are the residents most concerned about, what are the crime statistics, etc. She was given a brief rundown and the numbers of important contacts within the HUNC area to access more detailed information.

Jim McQuiston stated that CD4 is planning to vacate Vista Del Mar at Yucca and to close it to parking.

Agenda Item #8: Adjournment
Meeting adjourned by Joel M. Fisher at 7:36pm

Minutes Respectfully Submitted: Susan M. Polifronio