07/09/2016
HOMEOWNERS OF ENCINO
“Serving the Homeowners of Encino since 1983”
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#483 ENCINO COMMUNITY UPDATE
JULY 9, 2016
Los Angeles Times – June 24, 2016
California: This just in
L.A. TAKES STEP TOWARD NEW RULES ON SHORT-TERM RENTALS (AIRBNB)
Emily Alpert Reyes
Los Angeles is one step closer to imposing new rules on Airbnb and other websites that advertise rooms — or whole homes — for short stays, including limiting the number of days places may be offered and penalizing platforms that fail to provide key information to the city. The Planning Commission voted 5 to 4 on Thursday to back the proposal, which would legalize and regulate the popular but largely unsanctioned practice. Some rental hosts argued that the regulations would trample on privacy rights and hurt homeowners financially. … neighborhood activists and housing advocates who have pushed for stricter regulation were disappointed when the commission opted to increase the proposed cap on how often short-term rentals were allowed to 180 days annually. Letting people rent out spaces for nearly half the year “essentially legalizes hotels in residential neighborhoods,” said Judith Goldman, one of the co-founders of Keep Neighborhoods First, a group concerned about commercial rentals. “This will dramatically weaken the ordinance and provide little, if no, relief to residents all over the city,” she said. …
To read full story:
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-airbnb-rentals-20160623-snap-story.html
HOMEOWNERS OF ENCINO’S POSITION
HOME believes that the City's current housing regulations effectively regulate short-term rentals, as long as they are enforced. Short term rental – home sharing -- is illegal in R zones for very good reasons. Encino is comprised of cohesive residential neighborhoods with strategically located commercial zones. Our residential neighborhoods were never intended to accommodate hotel-like environments with transient occupancy by strangers with the noise, parking, traffic, litter and other problems. HOME does not favor the proposed ordinance.
The proposed ordinance is a slippery slope that the City should not tread on. What comes next – renting out front lawns as parking lots, converting single family dwelling garages into auto repair shops or any uses that make money for the City and profit driven property owners?
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ENCINO NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL TAKES ACTION ON
SECOND DWELLING UNITS aka “GRANNY FLATS”
At the June 22, 2016 Board meeting, the Encino NC took action by objecting to the repeal of the City’s Second Unit Ordinance {aka Granny Flats). The Encino NC passed the following motion:
MOTION: The Encino Neighborhood Council strongly objects to repealing the City’s adopted Second Unit Ordinance. It is imperative that the PLUM Committee leave in place those standards while it studies new, improved second unit standards that will provide needed additional neighborhood protections. PLUM should immediately drop its proposal to repeal the City’s adopted second unit standards. There is no urgency to act immediately.
HOMEOWNERS OF ENCINO’S POSITION
Homeowners of Encino (HOME) strongly objects to repealing the City’s adopted Second Unit Ordinance because the City’s adopted second unit standards provide important protections for surrounding neighborhoods that otherwise could be negatively impacted by second unit development. The adopted standards limit second units to a maximum size of 640 SF, and they forbid development of second units in designated “hillside” areas or that would be visible from the street. In contrast, the very weak State “default” standards that the proposed repeal ordinance would put into place would allow second units as big as 1,200 sq. ft. without any protections regarding the location or visibility of second units.
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GREAT NEWS! ICO ENACTED FOR SHERMAN OAKS!
Nancy Sogoian and Nancy Blaustein
Sherman Oaks, CA
Jul 6, 2016 — Last week, on June 29, the City Council of Los Angeles voted to enact the ICO proposed for Sherman Oaks, effective immediately! Success at last! The ICO (Interim Control Ordinance) is a temporary ordinance (up to two years) which provides some significant protections from overbuilding.
Essentially, it brings the maximum potential size down to .53 FAR with NO bonuses (just over half the lot size) vs. about 70%+ to lot size previously allowed (if then-allowed bonuses were used). Our new ICO mandates houses being built more appropriate to their lot size--So while it doesn't prevent demolitions and new builds, it brings the potential size down by approximately 20%, making new builds less intrusive and thereby less damaging to adjacent homeowners. And it places Sherman Oaks on a level playing field with neighboring communities Studio City and Valley Village, which previously were granted protective ICOs.
Our ICO (which also includes a few other L.A. communities) will be reconfirmed by City Council in a State-required vote 45 days after June 29 enactment. After reenactment vote, our ICO will be effective up to an additional 22 months from that vote. In the meantime, the City is working to revise its Baseline Mansionization Ordinance ("BMO") which will be permanent and cover all of the City of L.A. While final BMO parameters are not yet known, the City's last revision proposed a .50 FAR for lots under 7,500 sq. ft.
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BASELINE MANSIONIZATION ORD. AND BASELINE HILLSIDE ORD. (BMO AND BHO)
CITY PLANNING COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING
THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2016 after 8:30 a.m.
CITY HALL – PUBLIC WORKS BOARD ROOM 350
200 N. SPRING STREET, LOS ANGELES, CA 90012
The following case will be heard after 10:30 am: CPC-2015-3484-CA
Proposed Project:
A proposed ordinance amending Sections 12.03, 12.07, 12.07.01, 12.07.1, 12.08, 12.21, and 12.23 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code (LAMC) to modify single-family development standards for properties zoned R1, RA, RE, and RS citywide. The proposed ordinance would update the existing Baseline Mansionization Ordinance and Baseline Hillside Ordinance (BMO and BHO) provisions relating to the size and bulk of new single-family residences and modify permitted grading quantities for single-family lots in designated "Hillside Areas."
Recommended Actions:
1. Adopt the staff report as its report on the subject.
2. Approve and recommend that the City Council adopt the proposed ordinance with staff recommended modifications.
3. Adopt the Findings.
4. Adopt the Negative Declaration as the CEQA clearance on the subject.
Staff: Phyllis Nathanson (213) 978-1474 Thomas Rothmann
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Studio City Sherman Oaks Encino News – July 2016
THE DEIR ON GWR
By Gerald A. Silver
Last May the Los Angeles DWP released a Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) on its Groundwater Replenishment Project (GWR) for public review and comment. The GWR project has been despairingly referred to as "toilet to tap" drinking water. A number of ratepayers have expressed serious reservations about the public process by which the LADWP has approached the project, as well as concerns about cost factors, reliability, security, practicality and health issues. The LADWP believes that recycled water is safe to drink and plan to move ahead with the project.
Under the proposed GWR Project, an Advance Water Purification Facility would be constructed within the Tillman Plant, to purify the tertiary treated recycled water produced by the existing Tillman Plant facilities located in the Sepulveda Basin. The purified recycled water would be conveyed to the spreading grounds using the existing East Valley Recycled Water Line that currently connects the Balboa Pump Station at the Tillman Plant to the Hansen Spreading Grounds and the Hansen Storage Tank. A new 42-inch-diameter pipeline branch would be constructed from the existing East Valley Recycled Water Line to the Pacoima Spreading Grounds. The LADWP estimates that an average of 15,000 acre feet per year (AFY) of purified water would be recharged to achieve a total of 30,000 AFY.
The DEIR states that the GWR Project would create significant impacts during construction to air quality, biological resources, cultural resources, noise, and transportation and traffic, requiring mitigation measures to reduce the impacts to a less than significant level. It is unclear whether the specific mitigation measures that have been identified in the DEIR will actually reduce these impacts to a less than significant level including noise and traffic.
While in the end reclaimed water will likely be safe to drink there are many critical issues that still go unaddressed. These must be resolved before there is public acceptance of recycled water. The GWR project was not given adequate public notice, and too few people were involved in environmental process and hearings, as well as the current DEIR efforts. The LADWP should be put the entire “toilet-to-tap” matter up to a vote by the ratepayers. If residents want to consume recycled water, then so be it, but this should not be a unilateral decision made only by the LADWP.
There is no certainty that the system will work over the long haul and effectively filter out contaminates over many decades. There is no backup plan proposed to replace the water created by this system. This could mean that residents/businesses relying upon to the new recycled water supply could be left without a water source in the event the system did not work in the long run.
The cost of recycled water is much higher than other sources, and it is unfair to saddle Los Angeles water users with this higher cost. The "new source" of water will ultimately lead to more development and more growth than the rest of the infrastructure can support. The growth inducing impacts are not adequately addressed. The Valley contains numerous hospitals that feed into the Tillman Reclamation plant. This makes the Valley "toilet to tap" system different than other communities, and requires special consideration.
It would not be wise to move forward with the proposed GWR project unless cost factors, reliability, safety, practicality, cost and growth inducing issues have been resolved. Comments may be sent by July 11, 2016 to LADWP, Anthony Tew, P.E. at [email protected]. Also see DEIR www.ladwp.com/RecycledWater
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Gerald A. Silver is President of Homeowners of Encino. He served on the Citizens Advisory Committee that helped craft the Ventura Blvd. Specific Plan. He can be reached at [email protected].
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Studio City Sherman Oaks Encino News – July 2016
NEWS FROM CD4 - CITY SPEED HUMP PROGRAM
By David Ryu
Due to permanent budget cuts, the 15 year old City Speed Hump Program was discontinued in 2009. DOT provided a report on October 1, 2014 that proposed a framework for a slightly modified Citywide Speed Hump Program. Since the program was discontinued, the City continued to receive a significant volume of inquiries from residents complaining of speeding and requesting speed humps. The city received over 819 speed bump requests from July 2013 to March 2016, and numerous requests for the program to be reinstituted. This revised program was approved in City Council on June 10th. 2016.
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Ventura Blvd. Traffic Jam of the Week!
If you find yourself trapped in a traffic jam on Ventura Blvd. any time throughout the business day or when the boulevard is narrowed down to one lane, please email us a picture, noting the location, date and time. We will share the picture with others on our Encino Update. The source of the information will be kept confidential. Homeowners of Encino believes that Ventura Blvd. roadwork should not be done during the business day, except for emergencies. It should be scheduled for evenings or weekends.
Email your photo with the location, date and time to: Homeowners of Encino: [email protected]
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RESPONSES TO #482 ENCINO COMMUNITY UPDATE
Subject: Population growth turns up the heat on utilities
06/22/16, 4:17 PM PDT -DN
Every year, we have experience triple-digit heat in Southern California as well as the rest of the nation. So what is the response we get from the so-called leaders in government? “Conserve power,” don’t run your appliances during the day. The idiocy of politicians both local and national never cease to amaze me. When the population continues to grow, so does the demand for power. Just like the demand for schools, highways, hospitals, jails and prisons. The more the population increases, the more we will need more of the aforementioned items. You’ve heard it said that “we can’t drill our way out of the energy crisis.” Neither can we conserve our way out of an energy crisis. And that’s exactly where we are now, an energy crisis fueled by increasing population and short-sighted politicians.
CK
Castaic
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TO KEEP YOU INFORMED ABOUT ENCINO OVER-DEVELOPMENT, HERE IS A TALLY OF NEW OR PROPOSED PROJECTS IN THE ENCINO AREA:
33 unit condominium, 4741 N. Libbit Avenue (just off of Ventura Blvd.)
42 unit condominium, 5015 - 5041 Balboa Blvd.
66 unit apartment, (IMT) 4940 Paso Robles
131 unit apartment (Avalon Bay), Ventura Blvd. near Noeline
51 unit apartment, (Woodrise), Ventura Blvd. at Woodley
51 unit condominium, 15222 Ventura Blvd., just east of Sepulveda
325 unit apartment complex, Sepulveda Blvd. and Camarillo
125 unit apartment (Gold Mountain) 16704 Ventura Blvd.
58 unit condominium, 5239-5305 Lindley Ave. (replaces 39 apartments)
31 unit condominium, 4410 Sepulveda Blvd. (near Greenleaf off-ramp)
43 unit condominium, 5168 Yarmouth Ave. (replaces 29 apartments)
70 unit condominium, 5130 Yarmouth Ave. (replaces 53 apartments)
120 unit apartment, 5501Newcastle Ave. (replaces 71 apart.) incl. 9 low income units
43 unit condominium, 5445 Lindley Ave. (replaces 44 apartments)
112 unit apartment, 18301 Ventura Blvd., at Etiwanda
12 row houses, 4726 Petit (between Petit and Rubio) (sub standard lots, no side yards)
123,197 sq. ft. expansion, 15739 Ventura, Valley Beth Shalom, 1000 new daily car trips
20 unit condominium, 16671 Oak View Dr.
50 unit apartment, 17720 Magnolia Bl.
49 unit apartment, 16300 Ventura Blvd. - mixed use (Encino Car Wash property)
138,714 sq. ft. medical building, 18131Ventura Blvd. at Lindley (replaces Michaels)
187 unit apartment 17100 W Victory Blvd., Balboa Park Terrace at Balboa Blvd.
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HERE IS WHAT YOU CAN DO:
1. Attend the hearings and meetings and speak out against intrusive developments.
2. Write/phone/email Councilmember Paul Koretz and state your objections, ask his Deputy to attend the hearing and support the residents' position.
3. Meet with your Councilmember Koretz and his Planning Deputy.
4. Demand a building moratorium along Ventura Blvd. in Encino.
5. Demand the Ventura Blvd. Specific Plan be amended to reduce by-right development and mixed use density bonuses.
6. Call your friends and neighbors in Sherman Oaks and Tarzana and ask them to insist on amending the Ventura Blvd. Specific Plan.
7. Join Homeowners of Encino and assist in opposing over-development projects.
Call the Councilmembers below now, and demand action:
Councilmember Paul Koretz [email protected]
(818)971-3088, Fax (818)788-9210
Valley Deputy Gurmet Khara [email protected]
Ryu [email protected]
(818) 728-9924, Fax: (213) 624-7810
Chief of Staff Sarah Dusseault [email protected]
Coucilmember Bob Blumenfield [email protected]
(818) 756-8848, (818) 756-9179 Fax
Chief Planning Deputy
Councilmember Mitchell Englander [email protected]
(818) 756-8501, Fax: (818) 756-9122
Planning Director
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HOMEOWNERS OF ENCINO NEEDS YOU!
HOME has been extraordinarily busy working on behalf of Encino residents. Encino is faced with a growing number of apartments on Ventura Blvd., more over-development and that means more traffic.
BUT HOME CANNOT DO IT ALONE! WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT TODAY!
At every turn developers are working hard to change the face of Encino, and not for the better. New apartments and developments planned for Ventura Blvd. – mean more traffic and congestion! HOME has a long and successful record of addressing community issues, including traffic, billboard and sign blight, airport noise, over-development, and land use issues. Our members sit on important community organizations and boards, and represent your interests including the Van Nuys Airport Citizens Advisory Committee, Encino Neighborhood Council and others, giving you a direct voice in important policy making organizations. HOME is a volunteer, non-profit 501(c)4 organization. Community problems often spill over community boundaries. HOME welcomes members from adjacent communities to join us.
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MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
http://homeownersofencino.wordpress.com/
I want to fight over-development and traffic in Encino by joining Homeowners of Encino.
Please mail a $30.00 check to: Homeowners of Encino, PO Box 260064, Encino, CA 91426.
Name________________________________________________________
Address ___________________________City___________ Zip_________
Phone_________________ Email_________________________________
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