Odds and Ends 170

I hope that readers of this blog who are registered voters in the city of Rancho Palos Verdes take a visit to my East R.P.V. blog at: www.eastrpv.blogspot.com and read about Marymount College and their Plan that would have voters step over their own elected City Council members and vote to approve what the City Council members already approved, plus on campus student housing and the potential to restrict government oversight of The Marymount Plan's activities and construction.

I have many posts dealing with my reasons for opposing residence halls on Marymount's campus at the top of Palos Verdes Drive East where it rounds a large curve and above the infamous switchbacks.

It is not that I don't feel on campus housing at most Colleges and Universities is bad at all. It is the location and student makeup of Marymount that requires me to oppose on campus student housing for safety reasons.

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Ms. Elise Swanson will begin another term as a board member of the San Pedro Peninsula Chamber of Commerce.

This means she will stay on, probably as Vice President, of the new company and team being assembled to resume building plans for Ponte Vista at San Pedro.

I think this is a good thing. Ms. Swanson certainly knows a great deal about Ponte Vista and she can offer to the new team opinions and histories about what has been happening and how to approach OUR community in much better ways than were observed during "The Bob Years".

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The construction going on at Amalfitano's Bakery continues to have fits of on again, off again, work going on.

We say more kitchen parts going into the new bakery. The windows are still mostly covered with paper or plastic. One can peer in and see some display cabinets near the front.

Although I am long past being able to buy lots of goodies and eat them at one setting, I will do my best to enjoy one cookie per visit but not more than two visits per week.

I can still eat cake. Tiny and I mean tiny pieces are all that I allow myself.

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After being inspired by a member of the Rudderless Steering Committee of R Neighborhoods Are 1 as I watched his amazing weight loss and exercise choices, I finally went ahead and made the change I have needed to make for a couple of decades.

Now, when I take up pen and keyboard to do battle with over development, I do it with a little more than 61 pounds less of me. Just think of the new energy I can put to dealing with any plans that are as outrageous as ones offered by a now bankrupt over developer.

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I do expect that when the new team finally emerges do offer 'new' plans for Ponte Vista at San Pedro, the 1,395-unit number that was last considered will be the beginning point for future discussions and plans.

That is still far too many units for my support and it is quite a few too many to the most ardent supporters of keeping the current zoning at Ponte Vista at San Pedro.

I am not holding my breath waiting until the new team makes a move, and neither should you.

It still may take more months, but I think something is coming, because......

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New building is underway at 360 in Hawthorne, Ca.

360 was an ambitious construction project that was started on portions of the old Los Angeles Air Force Base on the south side of El Segundo Blvd, a few years ago.

After two buildings of condos were completed and units there were being offered for sale, all sales stopped and the entire site went into a dormant state.

The two or more completed sat silent and empty almost in the middle of a very large area that was fenced off and closed to all.

Recently however, I noticed new construction at 360 on the corner of El Segundo and Aviation Blvds.

New multi-story housing units are framed and it appears that 360 is building again.

This could portend a sooner than unexpected reemergence of plans for Ponte Vista.

But as I wrote a little up on this post, don't hold your breath.

Odds and Ends 169

Work is now progressing towards the opening of Amalfitano's Bakery! Yippee!

It's the last that will open of the five eateries I have been watching for months and months being constructed along Western Avenue.

The other four seem to have now settled in after their openings. We eat at Saladish more often than Denny's, Asaka Grill Express, or Pavich's Brick Oven Pizzafe.

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Now the real fight begins against The Marymount Plan for many of us.

The Rancho Palos Verdes City Council will finally vote to approve the two required Resolutions that will allow The Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project to receive the necessary pre-permit approvals.

The Project is different than The Marymount Plan only in a very few, but major areas:

The Plan, if voted in by voters in November, after the expected qualification on that ballot, would have two residence halls for 255 students and staff, adopt an ordinance that allows Marymount and their Plan to supersede many municipal codes, and now provide a concrete center median barrier along the long uphill and downhill curve around the campus along Palos Verdes Drive East.

If The Marymount Plan is adopted by voters, the closest Paramedic Squad to that campus, the Eastview and La Rambla areas is at L.A. County Fire Station 6, in Lomita. That squad must pass by the Ponte Vista site to get to the Eastview and La Rambla neighborhoods when they are not perform emergency duties in Lomita, parts of Rolling Hills Estates, Miraleste, and the Marymount area.

Increased numbers of people living on The Hill, especially at Marymount has been cited in the Environmental Impact Report for The Project as being a potential liability to achieving the best response time for a Paramedic Squad from any area of L.A. County.

Station 83 in Miraleste and Station 53 on Palos Verdes Drive South near Abalone Cove have a certified Paramedic on their engines 24/7 but that is really does not provide the better coverage that a Paramedic Squad can provide. We need another Paramedic Squad placed at the Miraleste or P.V. Drive South Station, but there are no funds for that.

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Odds and Ends 168-1/3

I don't like driving south along Western and since I have Via Colinita to Miraleste Drive/9th Street, I rarely head south past Trudie/Capitol.

It looks like Pavich's Brick Oven "Pizzafe" has been open for a few weeks and that is wonderful!

One can purchase some very interesting pizzas and there is a Croatian type pizza that has been a hit for several years at the other location.

I saw some seating from the roadway and I think I will take Terri and check it out and have a slice of pizza and a salad.

I will offer my opinion on this blog and my East R.P.V. blog.

I will also check to see if I can learn the status for Amalfitano's Bakery and when it might open.

Sadly or happily, I don't eat much of anything that comes from a bakery any longer and so far about 60 pounds of fat loss on my short frame would find the far-too-much remaining fat none to pleased with my eating baked goods made primarily of wheat.

Odds and Ends 168

OK, I'm late again. I am building the set for the musical "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" which will open on June 11 at the historic Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro.

The production is from The Relevant Stage Theatre Company where I am currently the carpenter in residence.

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I have heard through sources that the folks who own the Ponte Vista site are creating a whole new team to once again, get the project moving.

My sources opine that the new team will take up where the old team left off with a plan for the 1,395 condos considered by the former development team, last year.

The consideration continues that the new team will work to get entitlement approved for the site and then attempt to form a partnership with another development company or try to sell the land, with the entitlements, and cut the losses that continue to mount.

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I did see the door open at the site of Amalfitano's Bakery but there was still paper on the door and it is nowhere near open.

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The Staff Report and Resolutions drawn up for Rancho Palos Verdes City Council voting on the Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project is available for download or viewing at the city's Web site: www.rpv.com.

The report is 258 pages long.

The report does not seem to include the costs to taxpayers for the proposed ballot measure Marymount is floating.

Odds and Ends 167

I usually publish this post at 12:01 AM Friday mornings. I didn't today.

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This week finally saw normality arrive in the parking lots for Denny's and Asaka Grill Express.

Still, there is no sushi on the Grill's menu.

I have a new scanner and I am practicing my procrastination skills at hooking it up which I need to do so I can scan the inside of Asaka's menu and post it here. Perhaps by Monday morning I will finally get around to hooking the new H.P. up.

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I've got nothing new to report dealing with Ponte Vista at San Pedro.

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I think I will publish some bits from the Traffic and Parking Section of The Marymount

College Facilities Expansion Project, now completely approved of by the Rancho Palos Verdes

City Council.

Whether anything actually get built on Marymount's Palos Verdes Drive East campus is another story.

The other story is whether Marymount will accept The Project's approvals and try to move forward if their ballot measure does not pass.

I think if voters ultimately reject Marymount's plan to construct residence halls on the campus, Marymount will have to rethink whether it will start building using The Project's approvals or whether they will continue to seek approvals or victories in lawsuits allow them to build on-campus housing, before they begin any construction.

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Census Enumerators are out and about in large numbers and they are individually going to residential units where the resident(s) did not return their mail in Census Questionnaire in time.

Enumerators are expected to wear their I.D. at all times they are working and they should also be carrying the black bag with writing on one side.

Please, if an Enumerator comes to your door it would be great if you would kindly assist the Enumerator in completing the Questionnaire he or she has for your residence.

It takes ten minutes or less, has three fewer questions than the mailed Questionnaire, and you are helping someone who probably needs the job during this continuing time of hardship.

There are about 600,000 Enumerators working since last Saturday attempting to gather information that will lead to the most accurate Census possible.

I promise you won't see anywhere near even one thousand Enumerators in your neighborhood.

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