Thursday, July 19, 2007

Northwest San Pedro Neighborhood Council Resolution

On Wednesday July 18, 2007, the Board of the Northwest San Pedro Neighborhood Council adopted the following resolution:

WHEREAS, the Ponte Vista property on Western Avenue is zoned R-1, allowing single-family dwellings; and

WHEREAS, Bisno Development LLC has applied for a specific plan amendment to allow it to build 2300 condominiums, but had informally presented a plan for 1950 units; and

WHEREAS, the Northwest San Pedro Neighborhood Council has an interest in the development of the Ponte Vista property, including but limited to concerns about increased traffic, pressure on the level of City services, increases in population density, crime, air pollution and impacts on local schools; and

WHEREAS, the Northwest San Pedro Neighborhood Council area will be the most affected of all neighborhood council areas in the City of Los Angeles once the property is developed; and

WHEREAS, on November 14, 2005, the NWSPNC adopted, as part of is comments on the scoping of the project,

"The current R-1 zoning of this property is in concert with the rest of the community. The density proposed by Bisno Development for Ponte Vista fundamentally alters, for all time, the nature not only of the immediate neighborhood, but of the entire north side of San Pedro, and sets a precedent for potentially irresponsible over development of other propertied in the Harbor area. ...The issuance of the Inital Study implies an assumption by Bisno Corp. that there will be a change in the current zoning. We reject this assumption and oppose any change in the zoning."; and

WHEREAS, on January 22, 2007, the NWSPNC adopted the following language as part of its cover letter accompanying its comments on the DEIR:

"The current R-1 and Open Space zoning of this property fits well in the community and is appropriate zoning. The density proposed for Ponte Vista fundamentally alters, for all time, the nature of the immediate neighborhood and the entire north side of San Pedro....The DEIR implies that there will be a change in the current zoning. A change of this magnitude should be considered as part of the Community Plan update process, not as an isolated request." and

WHEREAS, the existing San Pedro Community Plan would allow an increases of almost 15% in our population as a matter of right, with no analysis of traffic impacts on our schools, but neither the City or Bisno have taken this potential growth into account when predicting the impacts of the Ponte Vista development or in evaluating whether additional new housing is needed in San Pedro; and

Considering that the City and Bisno have repeatedly failed to adequately analyze the traffic impacts likely to be generated by the Ponte Vista development, particularly on Western Avenue but also on feeder streets onto Western;

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Northwest San Pedro Neighborhood Council reiterates its support for R-1 zoning on the Ponte Vista property;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that any development on the property R1- or other wise should satisfactorily address increased traffic, pressure on the level of City services, increases in population density, crime, air pollution, and impacts on schools; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the potential impacts of any proposed plans for the Ponte Vista property will be subjected by this Neighborhood Council to objective comparison to the impacts likely to occur if the property were developed under the current R1 zoning.

1 comment:

M Richards said...

Please read the post realistically.

It does not state anywhere that the Northwest San Pedro Neighborhood Council demands that the Ponte Vista site stay R1 for all time!

The resolution does state that there could be a zoning change that the group might consider favorably, as long as certain conditions are met.

This resolution was not written by any of the so called "thugs" as others call folks who demand R1, now and forever at Ponte Vista.

The primary authors of the resolution, which was passed unanonymously by the Board, are actually individualy who have stated that they can consider a development of more than 429 single-family, detached houses.

For anyone to criticize the authors for not being willing to look at options other than R1 would be a factual error. One of the contributing authors is passionate about concidering that there must be some number of units that can be considered that is between 429 and 2,300.

The resolution states that there is a standard for the quality of life in Northwest San Pedro. If a developer can meet those standards, it appears to me that the Board would be very willing to consider objectively, the development.

At this time, the resolution does state that R1 is supported when considering the development according to Bob Bisno's current plans.

This resolution did not do what Mr. Joe Gatlin, the President of Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council claims their resolution did. According to Mr. Gatlin, who left the meeting after only a few minutes, never to return for the discussion or the vote by Northwest, he stated that the resolution passed by Central's Board was "an endorcement" of Bob Bisno's plans for Ponte Vista.

Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council was the first of the three neighborhood councils to vote on motions concerning Ponte Vista. Their motion, approved in 2005 calls for the site to be developed under guidelines that follow R1 zoning. Whether they create a specific "resolution" or not, doesn't deter the facts that Coastal only supports R1 at Ponte Vista.

So now we have three resolutions or motions passed supporting R1, by the three neighborhood councils.

One states "support" for Bisno's plans, although the authors of that resolution claim that it was more of a support for the type of development, rather than a specific endorcement of Bob's plans.

Sets of motions approved by one neighborhood council's board consistantly call for R1 at Ponte Vista.

Now there a new resolution by the third neighborhood council setting terms that support R1 but also allow for objective consideration of plans that meet certain criteria and may include a change of zoning, if standards are met and impacts are low.