Monday, August 06, 2007

"Stuff" From The Daily Breeze

On Sunday, 15th District Councilwoman Janice Hahn had a letter to the editor published about the 1974 ordinance passed concerning the right of first refusal by the City of L.A. in the sales of housing.

Ms. Hahn is a leader in rescinding the $150.00 fee that is now required as a waiver by the City.

It looks like that entire ordinance was only used one time and it probably should be removed in favor of something else in attepts to find more housing for everyone trying to move into the greater L.A. area.
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I decided to put part of a letter to the editor from today's Daily Breeze on this blog and include some of my own personal comments.

The letter was from two residents of Harbor City. I decided not to print their names because the letter look so "cookie cutter" in type that we have all seen this type of letter time and again in the newspaper, I strongly feel.

"In the article she (Councilwoman Janice Hahn) also states that housing will only be allowed around "transportation hubs." Well, the Ponte Vista project is providing shuttle service which will include shuttle trips to park-and-ride facilities, shopping centers and entertainment destinations."
I need to ask these two writers how long they believe this “amenity” will last once Bob receives his entitlements and leaves the actual building and management of the site to others? Who will pay for this “shuttle service”, all the homeowners or just from the kindness of Bob Bisno?

"The development will also have an Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus line serving the development and a carpool service for residents."
Again I must inquire of these two authors, are you stating that Ponte Vista will have its own bus line only serving residents of Ponte Vista? If so, will you please indicate any other developments of equal projected size that would have its own bus line?

"These are good traffic solutions that a development of single-family homes will not offer." Actually, the MTA will probably add stops on its regular bus lines that have been around for years, even if single-family housing is built.

"As a matter of fact, the community and Hahn should be aware that single-family homes generate a significant amount of traffic. Actually, more traffic per household than a senior condo or a non-age-restricted condo or town house."
Only the first sentence is true. Single-family homes do generate more traffic than “a senior condo” or “a non-age-restricted condo or town house”. The writers fail to tell you that there would be 800 senior condos, 100 town homes, and 1,000 condos if Bob gets his way. The only traffic count that would be larger in a single-family development would be PM peak hour. The other 23 hours of the day, Bob’s development would generate more traffic and Bob has stated as much.

"It's time to stop the sound bites and for our councilwoman to work with the developer of Ponte Vista to provide real housing solutions for our seniors, our children and our working families."

Please don't think I am singling out these to writers and attacking them personally. They are two individuals who might have enjoyed some compenstated entertainment or perhaps received vouchers for free dinners, I don't know. But if you read their "script" carefully, one cannot help to feel that they have swallowed some of Bob's special "Kool-aid".

Well, there are thousands of individuals who have made up their own minds and have used their own words to challenge the B.s. (Bisno supporters) who seem to stick to word usage that looks suspiciously scripted. The last paragraph of the letter looks like it was taken directly from some printed material that has been seen time and again coming from BDC.

Do you see what happens when the B.s. (Bisno support) provided, is based on information provided by Bob and his bunch, without regard to true facts and real issues? Ponte Vista would never be able to fall under the “Smart Growth” plans because it is not and will not be close enough to transportation hubs that “Smart Growth” proponents use. There is no light rail nearby, other than the red cars, and the closest real transportation hub is about 7 miles away near the 110/91 interchange.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

a notable transportation "hub" is located at the 110 and anaheim st. Not more than a couple miles from Ponte Vista. A short bus ride to the freeway "hub".

M Richards said...

Thanks anonymous 12:20, I sit corrected.

There is also hubs in Torrance and Gardena, but they do not connect as directly to the freeway buses at the hub near the 110/91, which also gets folks to the Green Line Station at the Century/Harbor Freeways interchange.

I think the Wilmington hub gets folks to the Blue Line and it is very crowded and well used.

It is true that there are hubs close by, but if there was a hub under the 110 Freeway at Channel Street, perhaps that could help our area.

There is a post on this blog that calls for light rail in OUR community. I think if you look back at the posts you can have a good read.

As always and just about forever, Bob and I have supported a new roadway between Western and Gaffey Street. Unfortunately neither Bob, Ms. Hahn, or anyone else seems to have provided any real leadership towards really getting that road built.

If WE are the government and the U.S. Navy is part of OUR government, shouldn't WE work harder for that road? Just think how we all could come together if that road was built?

I have spent many, many hours thinking about that road and even providing illustrations on this blog and to anyone who asks for one.

With a new road to Gaffey, and with new ramps to the 110 Freeway, there probably would have been much more room for discussion about the number of units at Ponte Vista, don't you think?

It appears WE only need about three acres of Navy land, and a whole lot of engineering and movement of structures on that land to be able to solve so many issues.

Just think of all the folks who would use Gaffey to get to Mary Star and Ponte Vista if a road was built.

As you will read in a post tomorrow, cars and their drivers will be increasing no matter what other transportation uses are used. It is a fact in southern California that we can't escape. Shouldn't we be more mindful of the car traffic as early as we can, and deal with that traffic more sensibly?

There is not enough mitigation possible to keep from a great traffic increase no matter what is built at Ponte Vista. Using Western Avenue as the only main road is not smart for both supporters and opponents of Bob's plans, and we ALL have known that for the longest time.
MW