Ponte Vista to Conduct 2nd Round of Stakeholder Interviews and Public Informational MeetingsTTtttt

The following article is from www.yourpontevista.com the blog published by the Outreach Team for Ponte Vista at San Pedro.
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Ponte Vista to Conduct 2nd Round of Stakeholder Interviews and Public Informational Meetings

May 29th, 2009 by Ponte Vista

(San Pedro, CA) Ponte Vista Partners, LLC will once again work with community facilitator Jim Oswald to conduct a second round of stakeholder interviews, small group meetings and public informational sessions. This additional outreach is part of a continuing effort to work with the Harbor Area communities to finalize a development plan for the Ponte Vista residential community. The plan will be presented to the City of Los Angeles Planning Commission on Thursday, August 13, 2009. 

During its public hearing for Ponte Vista on April 9, 2009, the City of Los Angeles Planning Commission directed the developer of Ponte Vista and the City of LA Planning Staff to work together on a compromise plan that “incorporates elements of the applicant’s revised concept and staff’s recommendations.” The commission set the date of August 13th to hear back from Ponte Vista and planning staff on the plan.

Oswald will interview key community leaders and stakeholders in June and conduct a series of group and public informational sessions in June and July. The public informational sessions will feature presentations and discussions on key topics of interest to Harbor Area community members. Information gathered from the sessions will help the Ponte Vista development team evolve the land use concept and prepare the compromise plan to be reviewed at the August Planning Commission meeting. Informational session topics may include traffic issues and proposed traffic improvements; housing types, density and design; and sustainable community design/open space.

Individual interviews and small group meetings will include neighborhood council presidents, board members and land use chairs, chamber of commerce leaders, homeowner association leadership, business leaders and residents living and doing business close to the proposed Ponte Vista community, and members of Councilwoman Hahn’s 2008 Ponte Vista Citizens Advisory Committee. Second round interviews will include individuals who have both opposed and supported the project and have been engaged with the Ponte Vista process over the past three years.

Key components of the current Ponte Vista Land Use Concept (based in large part on the first round of community outreach) include:

• A Senior Village for active seniors with its own pool, clubhouse and on-demand shuttle service in a secure environment
• Condominiums for first-time home buyers, young professionals and working families
• Workforce housing for teachers, firefighters, police officers and nurses
• More row and courtyard townhomes (two-thirds of the site is dedicated to townhomes)
• Neighborhood-serving retail for Ponte Vista residents and the surrounding community
• Access to Mary Star of the Sea High School from Western Avenue
• An environmentally sensitive community featuring water conservation measures including water reclamation systems and drought tolerant landscaping;  a focus on healthy environment and reducing waste; and energy efficient systems and appliances
• A two-acre village green and dedicated community open space that includes walking trails and bike paths
• A commitment to good paying union construction jobs through a Project Labor Agreement
• Traffic improvement funding for synchronized traffic signals and acceleration/deceleration turn lanes in front of shopping centers on Western Avenue to improve the flow of traffic, which will be in place before new residents move into Ponte Vista

The Ponte Vista development team is looking forward to continuing outreach efforts with Jim Oswald to engage with the community to create a vibrant neighborhood that delivers a responsible, sustainable and reasonable development that is responsive to the needs of the Harbor Area. 

About Ponte Vista

Ponte Vista is a new residential community being proposed for a 62-acre site located on Western Avenue in San Pedro. Ponte Vista features a mixed-income, multi-generational community with senior housing, and row and courtyard homes for move-up buyers, and housing for working families in a green, sustainable community. DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners is developing Ponte Vista. Ted Fentin, principal, of DLJ is leading the development team.

About Jim Oswald

Jim Oswald is a professional facilitator with Gensler, a global architecture, design, planning and consulting firm. Oswald brings 25 years of experience in designing, managing and facilitating strategic planning and community outreach programs for a wide range of public, private, non-profit and institutional clients.  He has successfully worked on dozens of land use and transportation projects across the United States.
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Ms. Elise Swanson from the Outreach Team called me to set up my appointment with Mr. Oswald which I gladly accepted.

During the first round of interviews with Mr. Oswald a large range of comments were provided to him by a variety of individuals on all sides of the discussions.

I fully expect this round will be quite a bit like the first round.

Those interviewed should speak their mind about what they want to see at the development and provide reasons to Mr. Oswald for their comments.

Whether this might change the number and types of units currently being considered is not known by me.

I will let Mr. Oswald know that I happen to appreciate that the largest number of units currently being considered are 'upscale' town houses. I feel they will provide a more stable community even though I will continue to contend that 1395-total units is still too many for the project.

Perhaps Mr. Oswald will discuss with me why the Ponte Vista development team is not considering having an equivalent unit density with The Gardens. 

It should be interesting.

You may also wish to ask whether your input to Mr. Oswald can be considered. You may want to give Ms. Elise Swanson a call if you are so interested.