Neighborhood: Hollywood United
City Toughens Soil Stability Requirements
A home in the Hollywood Hills that was damaged during 2005 rainstorms.
Hillside residents will welcome the rain now that, thanks to Councilmember LaBonge, the city is adopting tougher soil standards for construction in steep hillside areas. After the record rain storms of January, 2005, mudslides forced officials to close several canyon roads, some of which remained closed for months. Over 100 hillside buildings were also “red-tagged” by the City, which means they were declared “unsafe to occupy,” and residents of the Mount Olympus neighborhood in Council District 4 were temporarily evacuated. The councilmember immediately directed the Department of Building and Safety to review its standards for soil stability in these areas and determine whether requirements need to be tougher. After careful review, the department determined that every building that had been red-tagged was constructed before current building, grading and soil stability standards were in place. To tighten enforcement of those standards, however, the city will now require all new hillside development - including building additions and major improvements – to supply engineering and geological reports on the mitigation of flood and mudflow hazards. “Soil stability isn’t glamorous or exciting until you wake up on a rainy night and your house is sliding down the hill,” the Councilmember said. “I made sure the City is doing everything possible to protect people and their homes if a mudslide should happen.”
EMS response in CD4 upgraded
Residents of the Hollywood Hills will receive improved service from their local fire station with the addition of a third fully-staffed emergency response vehicle.
Beginning July 1, 2008, a Basic Life Support (BLS) ambulance will once again be stationed at Fire Station 41, 1429 N. Gardner St. BLS Rescue Ambulance 841 will be staffed every day between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. and will serve to reduce response time by fire personnel.
"The reinstatement of this service is a great example of the fire department's commitment to the people of Los Angeles. I'm proud to welcome this ambulance back to our district," said Councilmember LaBonge.
The ambulance rejoins FS41's existing paramedic ambulance and BLS engine and is part of the fire department's improvements in EMS service citywide despite this year's budget constraints.
CD4 Community Congress
About 150 residents attended Councilmember LaBonge's second quarterly Community Congress of 2008 at the Friendship Auditorium on May 21st.
“Information is knowledge is power,” the Councilmember said. “Our great city is facing a number of important challenges right now. The public should have the opportunity to hear from their public officials, ask questions, and make their voices heard.”
The town-hall style meeting lasted about two hours. City officials discussed the 2008-2009 City Budget, land use issues, public safety and emergency preparedness.
Councilmember LaBonge Moves Green-Roofed Fire Station Forward
FS 82 Rendering provided by L.A. City Bureau of Engineering
Hollywood residents will think green when they hear fire alarms now that the Los Angeles City Council has granted environmental clearance for the first fire station in Los Angeles with a living green roof.
The new 32,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art station will replace the current Station 82 on Bronson Ave., which at just 5,500 square feet, is over-crowded and has antiquated systems. Councilmember Tom LaBonge, who has championed this project from its inception, said final designs for the project are expected to be completed by the end of this summer.
“This is about public safety and providing the best possible fire response to Hollywood and the Hollywood Hills,” the Councilmember said. “This station will provide easy access for trucks. It will also be big enough to house the equipment needed to address the complex needs of both the Hollywood Boulevard theaters and the wilderness of Griffith Park. The green roof and sustainable elements are an added bonus.”
The capacity of the new three-story station will be a dramatic improvement over the existing station. The old fire station, which will be renovated and re-used for community use and equipment storage, houses six firefighters. The new station will have the capacity to house 16 firefighters per shift. The $30 million fire station is being funded through the Prop F General Obligation bond, approved by voters in November, 2000.
The new fire station, designed by RRM Design Group, will feature a variegated roofing system that will capture and treat rainwater on-site before it is piped to the storm drainage system. The roof garden will also keep the building cool and help save energy. These and other features will qualify the building for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design or LEED certification through the U.S. Green Building Council. Since 2003, all Department of Public Works’ newly designed and constructed projects of 7,500 square feet or more must be LEED-certified.
City Council passes anti-mansionization ordinance
The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved an ordinance on Tuesday that limits the building of over-sized McMansions on small lots throughout the city. This vote was a victory for Councilmember LaBonge, who championed this issue for more than a year. The result is a fundamental change in the city of Los Angeles zoning code.
“This ordinance is about preserving neighborhood character,” LaBonge said. “We wanted to make sure that neighborhoods that we know and love are protected by the proper zoning laws.”
Changes in land value, housing preferences and housing inventory have been contributing to a trend toward larger single family homes being constructed throughout Los Angeles. When larger homes replace bungalows built when Los Angeles was first developed, however, the larger structures are often incompatible with the established scale and character of older, single-family neighborhoods.
The Baseline Mansionization Ordinance grew out of a motion introduced by Councilmember LaBonge in June, 2006 and pertains to homes in flatlands only. A separate ordinance, which is now under consideration by the Los Angeles Planning Department, addresses the expansion of homes in hillside and coastal areas. As part of the discussion leading up to the vote on this measure, the City Council pledged to bring the hillside anti-mansionization ordinance for a vote within two years.
Under the new ordinance, which will be effective in 30 days, a bungalow on a typical 5,000-square-foot lot could be expanded to 3,000 square feet. Current zoning code allows more than twice that mass, with a 7,000-square-foot limit.
The ordinance will apply to 300,000 properties in single-family residential zones throughout Los Angeles.
First Community Congress of 2008 a success
Councilmember LaBonge and DWP General Manager & CEO H. David Nahai listen to the concerns of CD4 residents at the first Community Congress of 2008.
Councilmember LaBonge hosted his first Community Congresses of 2008 on Wednesday, February 27th. It was his latest in a series of meetings designed to bring city departments to the public.
“Information is knowledge is power,” Councilmember LaBonge said in welcoming about 50 CD4 residents to the event, held at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s (DWP’s) John Ferrarro building on Hope Street downtown.
Anti-Mansionization Ordinance Moves Forward to City Council
After two-and-a-half-years of study and numerous public hearings, the anti-mansionization ordinance initiated by Councilmember LaBonge moved out of committee Tuesday for consideration by the full Council. The three-member Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) panel voted unanimously to bring the measure forward along with a yet-to-be-written independent report on the potential fiscal impacts on property tax revenues if home sizes are restricted.
9/11
A "United We Plant" Ceremony was held this morning at the Hollywood City Hall with Councilmember LaBonge in memory of those who died six years ago in the Sept. 11 disaster. On the sun-bathed corner of Cole and Fountain avenues, a garden of newly planted flowers and trees was unveiled planted in memory of the NYC firefighters and police officers s the thousands of victims who lost their lives at the World Trade Center.
