The Venice Neighborhood Council Land Use and Planning Department will meet this evening at the Oakwood Recreation Center from 6:45p-9pm. The cases to be heard will be:
Neighbor’s screen shot of 522 Venice “before” construction
• 522 Venice Blvd; Small Lot Subdivision with Condominiums
• 809 Brooks; Small Lot Subdivision with 2 SFD
• 320 Sunset; Change of Use to Bakery/Retail
• Billboard Blight Motion on Illegal Billboards
Neighbor’s mock-up of 522 Venice “after” construction
522 Venice, the proposed 15 unit development which has been discussed before on this website (with a letter from the developers) will be the most discussed project, with neighbors concerned that the developers are trying to side step the Venice Specific plan and the Neighborhood Council Land Use and Planning Committee and head straight to City Planning for approval on August 14th.
The Concerned Neighbors of 522 Venice have sent out this email with a visual mockup:
Dear Neighbor,
We need your help to scale back the proposed development across the street from the library, at 522 Venice Boulevard. The developer is trying to make his project wider, higher and denser than zoning laws allow. Sadly, these types of requests are often passed by the city council, unless concerned neighbors speak out…
We are asking you to take a few minutes in the next week to send an e-mail voicing your concerns and, for extra impact, attend a crucial meeting with the City Planning Dept to be held downtown on August 14.
Here are some talking points:
– Your name and address (especially if within 500 feet of the project)
– Density: 30 parking places on a tiny lot [and driveway entrance on narrow Mildred Avenue] will create too much traffic at an already-congested intersection.
– Height: The height requirements should be adhered to, anything higher will be out of scale for the neighborhood, and it’s not fair to the rest of us whose buildings are at or under the maximum height.
-Width: There are required setbacks along Venice Blvd. that the city has designated for landscaping, making Venice Blvd west of Lincoln the “gateway to the beach”. The developer plans to build on this setback. (Other developers have tried this and have been unable to get away with it, but only when residents raised their voices. Take a look at the Venice Boulevard Planting Plan here: www.venice.net/landscaping)
– The Venice Specific Plan (which lays out these zoning laws) is a carefully considered document which took years to develop. Why should exemptions be allowed just so a developer can make more money?
More information and drawings can be found at venicesilvertriangle.org
Your e-mail should go to:
Joey.Vasquez@lacity.org
and copy:
Debbie.DynerHarris@lacity.org
with a subject line:
522 Venice Boulevard
Please send your e-mail soon, and attend the meeting on August 14 if you possibly can:
City of L.A. Planning Dept Hearing
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Los Angeles City Hall
200 North Spring Street, Room 1020
Los Angeles, CA 90012
9:30am
The Venice Neighborhood Council – Land Use and Planning Committee moved to deny the development when last proposed in 2012. In the recent revised proposal, the developer has 1) given up their request to annex the corner Ocean Ave/Venice Blvd parcel of land owned by the city, but 2) increased the proposed number of units from 12 to 15 in exchange for 2 units being low income housing. The VNC-LAPC has added the revised project proposal to it’s meeting agenda for this Wednesday:
VNC-LAPC Meeting
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Oakwood Recreation Center;
767 California Ave, Venice, CA 90291
6:45pm-9:00pm
CASES TO BE HEARD:
522 Venice Blvd; Small Lot Subdivision with Condominiums
809 Brooks; Small Lot Subdivision with 2 SFD
320 Sunset; Change of Use to Bakery/Retail
There are plenty of good reasons why the city needs to take extra care when developing this busy, complex intersection. We simply want to make sure this property doesn’t add to traffic safety issues and keeps to the intended limits for height, density, set-back, and encroachment issues, etc., that has been determined for the area.
Thank you!
Rob
