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Hollywood-Gower Neighborhood Association

August 27, 2003
Meeting Report 

Crime Report – Senior Lead Officer Maria Gholizadeh 

Crime is down in every category. Burglar theft from vehicles was the greatest problem and there were not many of those. Don’t leave articles visible in the car. 

The new music academy is opening on the 26^th of September on Yucca & Vine. It’s going to increase the number of young art/theater/dancing students in the area. They will be housed in a building behind the school. The area is saturated with patrol right now because of the young people coming in.  

Carlton Way – Don Colliver is working on a neighborhood watch – now that cruiser task force is completed, she will be able to attend a meeting. Brian Gallagher said that he would be happy to take care of the neighborhood watch signs that the neighborhood needs. 

Transient problem is always here but Gower is getting better. 

A neighbor from Tamarind said that an old woman had her purse grabbed – the neighbor chased the thieves and got the purse back. The kids got away through the area behind and near the freeway because Cal Trans isn’t fixing the fence. Maria said they should call Roosevelt McCord – Cal Trans supervisor. Also, the lighting on Tamarind is poor. The neighbor will send Maria e-mail and connect her with the lighting guy. 

Permit Parking Presentation: Brian Gallagher, Sr. Transportation Director 

Permit Parking is an inconvenience because people need to buy the permits and the guests need permits as well. They like to work out problems that cause the parking problems first. Sometimes they like to change the parking restrictions on the block from one hour to two hours, for example. Sometimes they choose to have no parking anytime 10pm to 5pm daily or weekends. These changes apply to everyone. 

When it comes to needing a sign that refers to one person and not another, then permit parking is required.  

There is an 11-step process to get permit parking in place.  

1)       A letter needs to come from the neighborhood organization, neighborhood council or even the city council office outlining why it’s necessary and what type of restrictions are being sought. When they receive this letter, then the DOT knows that it’s serious.

2)      Contact is made from the DOT to the people generating the letter and the businesses or the source of the problem. Discussions will take place to find remedies other than permit parking. If no conclusion can be made, petitions will need to be signed.

3)      Petitions – Will outline which block the petition is for, what restrictions are being sought. At least 6 blocks need to be included – at least 67% of people on each block must sign the petition – each apartment unit is counted as one vote. At least 50% of frontage needs to support the permit-parking district. Then they are turned into the D.O.T.’s permit parking division and the staff will verify the signatures.

4)      Environmental clearance study must be completed that will say that there is nothing negative impact as a result of the parking district.

5)      A public hearing follows. The neighborhood is posted for 15 days prior to the hearing all through the parking district so that the people in the area can speak out for or against it. This is to alert the city to any problems or surprises. It’s also to let the people in the neighborhood know that a parking district is on its way.

6)      Within 30 days of the hearing, the hearing officer must provide a report about the hearing. Based on their recommendation, the council office and permit parking office will write a recommendation supporting the parking district outlining the boundaries of the district. They add a couple blocks to the district in case there is spill over.

7)      They will specify what the parking restrictions are. Each block in the district doesn’t have to have the same restrictions.

8)      Transportation committee sees it and decide if it’s good or bad or they recommend changes to the district. They forward their recommendation to the full city council. This takes less than one month.

9)      When city council approves it, we look at the petitions. We need to make sure that the parking restrictions that are outlined on the petitions match that which the city council approved. If it doesn’t, the block or blocks needs to be re-petitioned.

10) Notices will be mailed out announcing the new permit parking district.

11) Annually 3 permits per dwelling unit, 2 Visitor permits (good for 4 months), Guest passes (costs a dollar and it’s only for one day – must go to the service office to buy this). 

Brian Gallagher will provide us with a list of service office locations. George asked if there could be a local service office located in the Wilcox office. Brian will look into that.  

They are working on Internet access to purchase permits.  

Helen says the two biggest culprits are Bally’s and Spaghetti Factory – their patrons and customers park on Gordon and on Carlton. Gallagher says that that should be specified in the initial letter. Also, the times of day/night should be noted when it is at its worse. Also, Florentine Gardens traffic impacts Tamarind on Friday and Saturday only.  

A neighbor mentioned a curb that is not painted clearly on Tamarind. Brian said he would have someone come and look at it. She also said that the street sweeping sign is there and people get a ticket but no street sweeper ever comes – the neighbors sweep it themselves. Brian will talk to the council deputy about the street sweeping not happening.  

Lily mentioned a couple tenants have trucks that don’t move except on street sweeping day. Brian said to call 1 (800) ABANDON. Municipal code says they need to drive one hour every 72 hours.  

Chris Shabel has traffic and parking problems. Brian says to call Cynthia Leong 323-845-9835 – D.O.T. in Hollywood’s CD 13 district.  

A neighbor asked Brian to look at Gramercy above Hollywood to see if the angled parking spaces are too wide and taking up too many parking spaces. 

Lily thinks that someone painted the curb gray in two places at her property on Carlton Way.  

Fire Station 82 report – Fran shared the Fire Bond’s efforts to find a suitable space for the new regional station. More public meetings are scheduled. She announced one coming that week.  

Introduction to neighborhood directors – The idea of elected officers was presented by Fran to the group in hopes that soon Hollywood-Gower would have its own officers and present an organized and united force to the city of L.A. A few individuals were mentioned as possible leaders including Maripat Donavan, Lily Kuan, Jessica Rodriguez, Helen Millar, Mike Geier, Jordon Birnbaum, and Don Colliver, just to mention a few.  

Neighborhood Council discussion – Maripat invited those living south of Hollywood Blvd. to sign petitions supporting the formation of the new Studio District Neighborhood Council.  

Announcements: Information about a hearing coming up on Sept. 15 was circulated and people were encouraged to attend. There is a plan to build a 4 story hotel on the southwest corner of Hollywood and Gower. Some wish that parking could be available there instead. 

John Walsh commented about CRA and some local developments that are planned. He is still hoping that Angylene will win the race for the governor’s seat.  

Meeting was adjourned – next meeting will take place on Wednesday, September 24, 2003 at 7pm.