Hollywood-Gower Reports

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Hollywood-Gower Neighborhood Association
Meeting Report
9-24-03

There were a few new faces in the meeting – Neighbors from Tamarind and Carlos: Shawna Kenney, Mytch Parks and Eva Lohse.  

Our Senior Lead Officer was not able to attend tonight and sends her apologies. 

Bill Kysella, City Attorney’s Neighborhood Prosecutor we there to help us find solutions to neighborhood issues. 

Shawna shared how her neighborhood is crowded with parked cars from Florentine Gardens patrons. There was an agreement that Florentine Gardens made with the city in 1999 to have the security guards steer patrons away from the neighborhood streets. They were to have patrons show stickers proving that they paid to park in the Florentine Gardens parking lot. A conversation with the security guards reveals that they don’t know about this 1999 agreement. The greeting on their machine no longer mentions the requirement for the parking sticker verification requirement. 

Several solutions and approaches were discussed. Shawna’s landlord has written a letter to Florentine Gardens. Jordan suggested that we do our best to communicate with them directly before going to the city with the problem. 

The Hollywood-Gower Neighborhood Association will write a letter asking them to be more considerate of the community and to comply with the requirements of the Conditional Use Permit ZA-96-0122.This letter will request a response within two weeks with a promise to report the CUP violations to the city if no response is received. Letter will be cc’d to Bill Kysella & Eric Garcetti’s office. Florentine Gardens owners/managers will also be invited to come to the next meeting of the Hollywood-Gower Neighborhood Association to discuss possible ways of us working together and creative solutions. Letter to be sent certified return receipt requested. 

Tamarind Issues: 

Cal Trans doesn’t clean up the area on the west side of Bronson, north side of Carlos between the apartment buildings and the freeway. 

The church hasn’t been having their maintenance people prune or clean the growth on the northeast side of their parking lot that abuts Tamarind. The mess is going over onto Tamarind and the neighbors are constantly cleaning it. Jessica will contact Gina or Bob Brown at the church asking them to instruct their gardeners to extend their work to that area. Jessica will report the results at the October meeting. 

People party at the end of Tamarind on Friday and Saturday nights after partying at the clubs. 

Mytch says that in the past, people would come to the back gate of his apartment building between lights and do drugs and hang out. He suggests that when you see people doing that kind of loitering to call 888 ASK-LAPD and report it. Since he started doing that, the situation has calmed down near that gate but still exists at the end of the cul-de-sac. Bill Kysella suggested that Mytch contact his Senior Lead Officer when she is working late so she can come by and cruise Tamarind as well as check on that area behind Mytch’s building. 

Fran will write to Mytch with Maria’s (Senior Lead Officer) phone number.

Steve suggested that Mytch go to the Wilcox station and get a Trespassers Arrest Authorization. 

Bill Kysella says that if one is afraid to report conditions in their neighborhood, they should still call 213-485-4310 (Hollywood Police Community Relations) and whisper the details – even anonymously to someone there so that the police know to take a look at the situation. Recently, a squatter encampment was raided after existing in a neighborhood for months with all manner of criminal activity centering right there. Now the owner knows about it and has leveled the building. 

Neighborhood Issues: 

There is a big bus on private property across from Tommy’s. There is a homeless woman living in a car on Bronson (north of Hollywood on the west side of the street – brown car – she has a wheel chair and moves the car on street cleaning day only – the people in the bus may be helping her survive). 

Traffic 

Letter needs to be written to DOT asking for a left arrow for the southbound Vine Street traffic going east onto Hollywood Blvd. and a left turn arrow for the traffic going north on Western Ave. and turning left (westbound) onto Franklin. Steve will help Fran write this letter. 

Neighborhood Council Report 

Steve Whiddon reported that Hollywood Studio District Neighborhood Council is making progress towards certification with boundaries of Western on the east, Melrose on the south, Hollywood Blvd. on the north and El Centro on the west. He invited anyone living in those boundaries to sign the petition. They will be doing outreach on October 12th with a booth at the Latino Heritage Festival that will take place on Hollywood Blvd. between Highland and Vine Street. Steve has applications for outreach booths for this event. 

They will have their “big meeting” on October 30th at 6:30pm at Q-Topia. LAUSD Superintendent will be there to discuss the new high school planned for Hollywood in his area. Halloween safety will be discussed and there may be a CRA rep there to discuss coming developments. 

Bill Kysella’s Action Plan 

Lighting – he will refer the situation to Street Lighting for them to come take a look and tell us what we can and can’t have on Tamarind. 

Florentine Gardens – Bill will have a copy of the CUP faxed to him so that he can become familiar with the original agreements and requirements. 

Homeless woman – he will refer this to the homeless committee and to the officers who do the homeless outreach. There are many agencies that are involved in this outreach program (P.A.T.H. People Assisting The Homeless). 

Bus – he will speak to the legal division to see how much information can be gathered about that vehicle and what, if anything, can be done about or to it to make it not such an eye-sore. Bill will need more detailed information about the goings-on in that alley between the bus and the liquor store before surveillance can be meaningful. 

CalTrans – he will contact his people at CHP and CalTrans to see if clean up operations can be conducted. 

Hollywood-Gower Action Plan 

Fran will send a letter to Florentine Gardens sharing the situation and inviting them to the October meeting. Shawna will report next month whether there has been any improvements on her street.  

Jessica will talk to contacts at First Presbyterian. She will report next month on how that conversation goes and if it results in any clean up efforts. 

Steve and Fran will write a letter to the DOT asking for those two left turn arrows. 

Meeting adjourned.