My Comments to the "Eighty-Two"

On the very day of the first open forum, committee members found on our doorsteps, a package from the Bisno organization.

The package contained a cover letter signed by Mr. Luis Dominguez who I personally know and our wives are good friends.

Mr. Dominguez's letter concerned "82 letters from interested buyers, both seniors and others (who) support the 575 senior units and the 1,725 non-age restricted unity at Ponte Vista."

All the letters were addressed to Ms. Janice Hahn, were all on plain white paper, used ball point pens, with one exception, and were written over a seven-day period with most of the letters having either a December 5, or December 6, 2006 date.

I have decided to comment on the letters and refer to this group as the "Eighty-Two".
I promise not to belittle any of the authors and will use facts, and not opinions as much as possible during my comments.

To the "Eighty-Two",

I appreciate having been able to read each letter and think about what everyone wrote. I am sad to say, though that you have either been misinformed about substantial facts, or the facts were not provided to you prior to your authorship of the letters.

Most of you do not support making the site zoned R1. Many of you have asked Ms. Hahn to not support making the site zoned R1. One of you want 2,300 homes built while still maintaining the R1 zoning. Many of you do not wish to have Mr. Bisno be forced to build per R1 zoning requirements.

Here are some true facts concerning the 61.53 acres that make up Ponte Vista at San Pedro.

Currently about 46 acres of the property is currently zoned R1 which means on that land, up to nine homes may be built per acre.

Approximately 15 acres of the site is currently zoned as open space. These zonings were created using an ordinance approved or by the majority of the members of the Los Angeles City Council that zoning was not used by the U.S. Navy for the construction of the homes currently standing at the site.

Ms. Hahn cannot approve of making the site R1 because it already is. Therefore, she and the other members can't change the zoning to R1.

Mr. Bisno has every right to build up to 429 homes in Ponte Vista at San Pedro without seeking any zoning changes. He knew this when he acquired the property through an auction process and subsequent purchase of approximately 19 acres from the Volunteers of America.

Do any of you "Eighty-Two" know the prospective price of any home proposed at Ponte Vista? Would you like to? Do you believe that whatever price Mr. Bisno and his associates place on the homes would make them "affordable" in your individual eyes? Has anyone in the Bisno organization shown you proposed details on the actual number of bedrooms per unit in both parts of the development. Would it surprise you to learn that up to 60% of the units being proposed will have three bedrooms?

I am afraid so inject that if you don't know the answers to these questions, you may have been misled in your quest to find a truly "affordable home" at Ponte Vista.

Mr. Bisno is planning to sell his homes at "market rates" or "market price". That means he will sell the vast majority of them at whatever the market will bear.

Mr. Bisno has claimed that he will offer a "3% rebate" to certain buyers in selected employment categories, but he has not said he will give a rebate to any seniors, unless they are employed in the selected occupations.

Truly "affordable" housing can exist in a development on a limited basis and the criteria is based on pricing structures maintained by government agencies.

Many large developments offer what is called "Controlled Priced Units" or CPU's for short. Developers provide a selected number of homes at "below market" prices to allow individuals such as teachers, emergency workers, and similar valuable professions, the opportunity to buy homes they would not otherwise have the income to buy.

Mr. Bisno is not offering to sell any Controlled Priced Units at Ponte Vista, at this time. If you would like to seek out a CPU and feel you might qualify, you would need to visit Playa Vista where there are some available.

The Draft Environmental Impact Report states that the income required to purchase a home at Ponte Vista will be approximately $141,000 per year, per household.

At our Open Forum last night, we learned from a representative from Mary Star of the Sea Parish that the median income of families sending their children to the current high school is $41,000 per year. This means that there would be approximately zero families that could send their children to the new Mary Star of the Sea high school campus, east of Ponte Vista, and still afford to buy a home at Ponte Vista.

The estimated projected cost of the lowest priced unit at Ponte Vista, which will be a loft type condominium, is over $300,000.00 if I am not mistaken. If I am incorrect with that figure I would hope someone from the Bisno organization would set me straight and I would be more than happy to adjust the minimum price.

In a sidebar conversation, during a regular meeting of the Community Advisory Committee, I quietly asked Mr. Bisno to give me the breakdown as to number of bedrooms he thinks would be in the various sized units at Ponte Vista. Mr. Bisno told me that up to 10% of the homes would be four-bedroom units. I asked him what the price range for those homes might be and he answered "approximately $1.2 Million."

Mr. Bisno also wrote down the number 60 when I asked him what he feels the percentage of the 2,300 homes would be built as three-bedroom units. As we talked quietly we both concurred that these homes may be in the range of $700,000-$800,000.

To be sure, $750,000 for a three-bedroom in San Pedro is probably a good price, but would these homes be in the price range of any of you members of the "Eighty-Two"?

Have any of you considered the monthly Homeowners Association Dues and monthly fees required to fund the ongoing business inside Ponte Vista. If you learned that these monthly fees would had as much as $375.00 per month to your bills, would that create a financial bind?

Has anyone in the Bob Bisno organization given any of you figures as to what the monthly fees and dues would be? if so, please Email me because a lot of us would sure love that information.

Guards, gardeners, office staff, maintenance, and other items need to be funded by someone. Or they have to be funded by everybody.

To the senior authors of the "Eighty-Two", would it surprise you to know that I not only support senior housing at Ponte Vista, I would like the ratio of senior housing raised. I think 60% of the total number of homes should be built for seniors.

Are you seniors aware that there are no plans to build a pharmacy at Ponte Vista or a small store that folks can easily visit for basic food and sundries so you wouldn't have to drive as much on Western Avenue?

To everyone,

These "Eighty-Two" authors want something great in their lives. I know we all want the best for our families and our community. I know that sometimes we get excited by the prospect of something new and possible.

I hope everyone is concerned about learning as much truth about Ponte Vista as possible. I love the illustrations and I have seen its "twin" in Newport Beach. I can't think of anyone who wouldn't like living securely in a place like I visited. But reality is reality and Ponte Vista's "twin" is actually a giant apartment complex.

So before anyone signs on any dotted lines, please, please get the facts, all the facts, and think long and hard about changing the way you live for something that may or may not be better.

Be well,
Mark