GWNC Provides Useful Updates on a Wide Range of Local Topics

There were no huge discussions or debates at this month’s meeting of the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council, held at the Ebell of Los Angeles on Wednesday, January 10…but the wide-ranging session provided a number of useful updates on a variety of interesting topics.  They included:

• City Council District 5 Field Deputy Michelle Flores reported that the city’s turnaround time for streetlight repairs is now about 90 days.

• Flores also reported that the owners of the property at 200-202 N. Orange Drive, where neighbors have protested the residentially-zoned building’s current use as a synagogue, have removed an outdoor pergola and air conditioning unit, so the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety has now deemed the property in compliance with the city’s building codes.  In response to a question about whether or not the owners have filed an application for a Conditional Use Permit, which they’d need to legalize the building’s use as a house of worship, Flores said she wasn’t aware of any new applications, but First Amendment issues of freedom of speech and religion are also in play, which complicate the situation.

• Metro representative Ned Racine reported that the intersection of Wilshire and Western will be closed from 9 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Monday on the weekends of March 1 and 8, for removal of surface-level concrete construction decking and the final restoration of the asphalt street surface. Racine said these will be the last weekend closures for decking removal along Section 1 of the new D (Purple) Line subway extension.  Sidewalk, gutter, and curb restoration will continue at other locations along Wilshire, closer to La Brea and Fairfax, in the coming weeks.

• CD 13 Field Representative Karla Martínez reported that the vacant bungalow court at 5212 W. Melrose Ave., which had recently been been covered with graffiti, left open to the elements and passersby, damaged by vandalism, and littered with a variety of debris, has now been secured.  (Martínez did not provide any further information on the property, which developers were proposing to turn into a boutique hotel in 2017 and 2019, but Esotouric’s Secret Los Angeles blog posted a detailed story on Thursday about that apparently now-abandoned idea, efforts to seek historic designation for the property, and applications for demolition permits that were filed in October, but not yet issued.)

• Martinez also reported that CD 13 and the Department of Transportation are working on ways to keep people from parking in the center lane on Larchmont Blvd. (and many other locations around the city), which need to be kept free for people making left turns into parking lots.

• Emma Howard, CD 13 Director of Community Development and Planning, reported that fully complete applications for 100% affordable housing projects, made under the mayor’s Executive Directive 1 to fast-track such proposals, will usually receive administrative approval in an average of 37 days (instead of the 6-8 months it takes similar projects requiring a discretionary approval process with public hearings).  This will likely include the two 100% affordble projects recently proposed for the Greater Wilshire area at 507 N. Larchmont Blvd., and 800 S. Lorraine.  Howard also clarified that ED1 applications are not subject to the same transit proximity requirements that projects approved under Transit Oriented Communities (TOC) guidelines must meet, and ED1 also automatically allows many kinds of bonuses (including additional height, density, floor area ratio, reduced setbacks, reduced outdoor space and more) not usually allowed by local zoning. In addition, Howard said, a new state law allows 100% affordable projects to be built with no on-site parking.  In response to a board member’s question about the kinds of financing these projects might qualify for, Howard said she doesn’t know, because financing is not part of the qualification process, and most ED1 projects will likely be privately financed.  Finally, Howard noted that the city’s new Affordable Housing Streamlining Ordinance (CF 23-0623) will help to clarify the ED1 rules even further, and people can still weigh in on those provisions as the motion makes its way through the City Council approval process.

• During the public comment period at Wednesday’s meeting, stakeholder Steven Sapunor spoke in opposition to the 800 S. Lorraine project in particular, pointing out that it’s in an HPOZ, and the city has said ED1 projects would not be allowed in designated historic areas. The issue wasn’t specifically agendized for discussion at this meeting, however, so GWNC President Conrad Starr referred Sapenour to the GWNC Land Use Committee for further discussion and possible action (though Sapunor noted that the project’s administrative approval will likely happen on January 23, which is the day of this month’s LUC evening meeting).

• Also during public comment, stakeholder Clyde Lieberman reported that a new 3,648 square foot 7-Eleven store has been proposed for 1009 Crenshaw Blvd., the SW corner of the intersection of Olympic and Crenshaw Blvds., where the Eco-Fuel/KB Gas Mart now stands (ZA-2023-2971-CU-CUB). Lieberman said the application requests permission for the store to be open 24 hours a day, with alcohol sales allowed until 2 a.m. (According to the Planning Department page for the project, a public hearing was apparently held on Tuesday, January 9, but a determination letter has not yet been posted.) The project is officially in the Olympic Park Neighborhood Council area, just across Olympic Blvd. from the area represented by the GWNC, but because the OPNC is not currently meeting, Lieberman requested the GWNC’s help in opposing the application. Starr also referred this issue to the Land Use Committee for further discussion and possible action.

• The GWNC board appointed four new Alternate Board Members, who will sit in an vote at board meetings when the elected board members are unable to attend.  The new Board Alternates are: Nicholas Wood (Area 13 – Wilshire Park), Sarah Beth Bryan (Area 1 – Brookside), John Winther (Business), and Benny Rosenberg (Religion). Wood, Bryan, and Winther were present and sworn in at Wednesday’s meeting (with Bryan then sitting in for the Brookside board member, Owen Smith, who was absent). Rosenberg was not present and will be sworn in later.  There are still openings for Alternate Board Members to represent the Citrus Square, Country Club Heights, Fremont Place, Oakwood/Maplewood/St. Andrews, Ridgewood-Wilton/St. Andrews Square, Sycamore Square, and Western-Wilton neighborhoods, as well as local Education organizations.

• The board approved an adjusted budget for the remainder of the current fiscal year (which runs through June). The revised budget more accurately reflects spending as it’s playing out so far this year, and also frees up $2,000 for Neighborhood Purpose Grants between now and June. (NPGs provide funds for community benefit projects at non-profit organizations and schools in the Greater Wilshire area.) An application window for this year’s grant cycle has not been set, but Starr told the Buzz an announcement of those dates should be coming soon.

• Board members approved having a GWNC table at the upcoming CicLAvia Melrose, the periodic open streets event that will be held along Melrose between Fairfax and Vermont on Sunday, February 25, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The location for the table has not yet been chosen.

• GWNC Outreach Committee Chair Jesseca Harvey announced that the GWNC will once again host the local section of the Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count, sponsored by Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, on January 25 from 8 p.m. to midnight. As it has been for the last few years, the Greater Wilshire count will be based at Hope Lutheran Church, 6720 Melrose Ave. A total of 50 volunteers (counters, navigators, and drivers) are needed from our area, and signups are now open at http://www.greaterwilshire.org/count.

• The board appointed Edward Ruiz to be its Public Works Liaison.

• It was announced that neighbors from the Citrus Square neighborhood (bordered by Beverly Blvd., Citrus Ave., Third Street, and La Brea Ave.) will be holding a community meeting via Zoom at 6 p.m. on February 13 to talk about the possibility of getting the neighborhood listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Ken Bernstein, who heads the city’s Office of Historic Resources, will join neighbors at the meeting. More information and the Zoom link are available here.

Next month, both the GWNC board and many of its committees will transition back to holding at least some of their meetings virtually. Here’s the schedule as set so far:

GWNC Board – Meets on the second Wednesday of each month. Will hold the first meeting of each quarter (January, April, July, and October) in person, at the Ebell of Los Angeles, 743 S. Lucerne Blvd.  The next two meetings of each quarter will be held via Zoom. The next meeting will be via Zoom on Wednesday, February 14, at 6:30 p.m.

Land Use Committee – Meets on the fourth Tuesday of each month.  Will hold the first meeting of each quarter in person, in the board room at Marlborough School, 250 S. Rossmore Ave.  The next two meetings of each quarter will be held via Zoom.  The next meeting will be held in person on Tuesday, January 23, at 6:30 p.m.

Outreach Committee – Meets on the third Tuesday of each month.  The next meeting will be held in person on Tuesday, January 16, at the John C. Fremont Library, 6121 Melrose Ave. at 6:30 p.m.  (Future in-person/Zoom schedule TBD.)

Environmental & Sustainability Committee – Meets on the first Tuesday of even-numbered months.  Next meeting on Tuesday, February 6 in person at the Memorial Branch Library, 4625 W. Olympic Blvd. at 6:30 p.m. (Future in-person/Zoom schedule TBD.)

Transportation Committee – Meets on the third Thursday of odd-numbered months. All meetings will now be via Zoom. Next meeting on Thursday, January 18 at 6:30 p.m.

Quality of Life Committee – Meets on the fourth Wednesday of of the second month of each quarter (February, May, August, November).  All meetings will be held via Zoom. Next meeting on Wednesday, February 28 at 6:30 p.m.

Resilience Committee – Meets on the first Monday of each month.  The next meeting will be held on Monday, February 5, at 6:30 p.m.  (Location for that session and future in-person/Zoom meetings have not been decided yet.)