Second Fire at Lombard

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Page 6 Palisades News November 18, 2015 Heard About Town Plane Noise Increasing? Regarding your article in the November 4 issue (“FAA Will Implement New System”), when you realize you are hearing nearly constant buzzing, droning and roaring, just look up to the sky. You will see jet planes of all sizes cutting across the Palisades sky. This began in October. In 20 years of living here, this has never been the case. Your article stating that the new FAA system would not result in significant or reportable noise impacts could not be more untrue. The LAX noise complaint number is (424) 64-NOISE. Maybe if enough people call, something will change. (Editor’s note: We contacted Ian Gregor, the public affairs manager for the FAA Pacific Division after we received the query. Gregor responded the next day, “Absolutely nothing has changed.”) Motorcycle Noise Gone Thank [Senior Lead Officer] Michael Moore and the LAPD for tackling the motorcycle noise. We haven’t heard them roar down Sunset Boulevard for weeks now. I was told that the police started checking out the leaders and anyone who had a warrant or problem was taken care of and with no leaders the rest of the pack isn’t driving through. If everyone expressed their thanks about the situation, it would be a good thing to do. A Traffic Fantasy Imagine the two center lanes of Sunset Boulevard through town put underground in a trench-tunnel, with one entrance-exit in the vicinity of Drummond and the other in the vicinity of Temescal. Think Alameda Corridor. Above ground there could be generous side lanes for local traffic and buses, with sections of wider sidewalks. I’d guess that maybe 90 percent of Sunset traffic would choose the express-underground route, especially in peak traffic. The remaining surface traffic would then be local, and slower. Less noise and chaos. Lots of options to ponder, e.g. partial financing via a modest Fast Trak toll (perhaps time- &-traffic dependent). A pipe dream? Firefighter Praise I know they’re just doing their job, but we need to send out a huge shout of thanks to all of the firefighters who came to the rescue on the Lombard fire below Via de las Olas on November 8. After the second fire in the same area on November 10, they stayed up all night to watch for other possible flareups. ——————— If you’d like to share something you’ve “heard about town,” please email it to spascoe@palisadesnews.com ANN CLEAVES VIEWPOINT My Milkshake Comes First! By GAYLEN DUCKER Special to the Palisades News After having lunch with a friend near the Brentwood Country Mart, I stopped to pick up ice cream at Sweet Rose Creamery. When I walked inside, there was a father and son sharing an ice cream cone at a table, and a tall red-haired young man standing behind the counter. I ordered two pints: apricot sorbet and rose geranium with pistachios. The red-haired young man started filling the first pint when a woman dressed in a black dress, high heels and a long, silvery necklace rushed in. “I want a vanilla milkshake!” she said. “Can you make me a vanilla milkshake while I go next door for my dry cleaning?” The red-haired man said, “Sure” and continued to fill the pint with rose ice cream for me. The woman rushed out. A few minutes later, she returned. “Where’s my milkshake?” she demanded. She sounded frantic. I looked at her. “I ordered a vanilla milkshake!” she repeated. The red-haired man looked at her, too. He had just finished putting a sheaf of waxed paper over the rose ice cream, and was writing the name on the lid of the pint. “I’ll make your milkshake as soon as I’m finished with this customer,” he said. Meaning, me. “I don’t understand!” the woman said, her voice rising. “Where is my milkshake? I ordered a milkshake! I told you I was going next door for my dry cleaning and would come back for my milkshake!” The young man handed me the pint of rose ice cream and said, “I’ll start on the apricot sorbet now.” A woman walked in wearing a blue Sweet Rose Creamery t-shirt and carrying more red and blue balloons. “Good afternoon, everyone!” she said. “I want my milkshake!” the woman told her. Her voice had become shrill and loud. The toddler sharing the cone with his father started to cry. Everyone became very still. Then the woman in the blue t-shirt handed the little boy a balloon and tied the rest to the back of another chair, walked behind the counter and said, “I can help you.” She spoke quietly. The red-haired man said, “I’m finishing up with this customer.” “I just don’t understand what happened!” the woman said again. “I was here, I ordered the milkshake, and I went next door. Where is it?” I didn’t understand either. When did I become invisible? When did this entire city BECOME INVISIBLE to everyone else living in it? When did each of us become more important than the person standing next to us? Did this change, this shift, happen a decade ago, two decades ago? Will it ever . . . shift back? I walked to my car, carrying my two pints of ice cream, wondering about this. It was a beautiful day. Of course, other things were happening in the world, worse things— thousands of refugees are struggling in Europe, others are displaced in Chile. Did that woman enjoy her milkshake? Was it worth it? Oops! In the October 21 issue (“L.A. City Passes Beekeeping Ordinance,” p. 4), it was stated that the Pacific Palisades Community Council at an April meeting opposed the proposed ordinance. President Chris Spitz pointed out that although there were draft motions in the minute opposing it, no vote was taken. Thought to Ponder “Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.” ― Robert Frost Founded November 5, 2014 ——————— 869 Via de la Paz, Ste. B Pacific Palisades, CA 90272 (310) 401-7690 www.PalisadesNews.com ——————— Publisher Scott Wagenseller swag@palisadesnews.com Editor Sue Pascoe spascoe@palisadesnews.com Features Laurie Rosenthal LRosenthal@palisadesnews.com Graphics Director Manfred Hofer Digital Content and Technology Kurt Park Advertising Jeff Ridgway jeffridgway@palisadesnews.com Grace Hiney gracehiney@palisadesnews.com Jeff Parr jparr@palisadesnews.com Advisor Bill Bruns Contributing Writers Laura Abruscato, Laurel Busby, Libby Motika Contributing Photographers Wendy Price Anderson, Bart Bartholomew, Shelby Pascoe ——————— A bi-monthly newspaper mailed on the first and third Wednesday of each month. 14,500 circulation includes zip code 90272 and Sullivan, Mandeville and Santa Mon - ica Canyons.All content printed herein, and in our digital editions, is copyrighted. Online: palisadesnews.com
Palisades News November 18, 2015 A forum for open discussion of community issues Page 7 EDITORIAL Let’s Keep Swarthmore a Two-Way Street By BILL BRUNS Palisades News Adviser When Palisades Village developer Rick Caruso met with the Community Council’s land-use committee on October 29, he referenced his plan to convert Swarthmore into a one-way street from the alley at City National Bank to Monument. He argued that this would increase available parking by having angled parking and would make the street safer and more walkable. Fortunately, Council member and longtime resident Sue Kohl recalled an ill-fated experiment in the 1980s and asked Caruso, “You are aware that Swarthmore was one-way and it didn’t work?” “I didn’t know that past,” he replied, and later when asked the same question he said, “If the community wants it to go two ways, let it.” As a 43-year resident of the Alphabet Streets neighborhood, I think we should take Caruso up on his offer, and get his one-way Swarthmore idea erased from his plans to redevelop most of the street (along with Sunset frontage and the outdoor parking lot). There are drivers in well over 1,000 households in the Alphabets—from Via de la Paz over to Chautauqua— Happy Anniversary to the News I want to wish you and the entire staff a very happy first anniversary! In an age when print media is becoming less read, you had the courage to start a brand new newspaper in November 2014. Not only that, but it is incredibly wonderful, informative, well researched and open to reader contributions (Viewpoints). Your articles are timely and contain accurate information. The Homes & Gardens section in the November 4 issue was great. I found the article on artificial turf really valuable. It’s especially timely with many of us replacing our water-hungry lawns. Thank you again and keep up the great work! Barbara Gould Caruso Project Observations First and foremost, our community is very fortunate to have the investor/ developer, Rick Caruso, pursue the re-gentrification of the Palisades, and here are three key reasons to consider: 1. He is a local, a resident of our neighboring community, Brentwood. 2. Caruso has taken on all the risk, his money, his time and effort, for all of our benefit. 3. Let’s say it doesn’t work, perhaps five to seven years, or 10 years from now, well, gee we are back to what we have now. Let’s play the “what if game,” where we consider alternate realities and real possibilities: What if he did not invest, and instead a consortium from another state, or another country had purchased this property? Bet they could care less what any locals thought or wanted. What if there are 54-60 new businesses in our neighborhood? Our budding adults could grow with and up into the hills who would be sorely inconvenienced by losing Swarthmore as an access street into the village beyond Sunset. And by having only two options—Via and Monument—we would add to the congestion on these streets at their Sunset intersections, once Palisades Village opens. The latest Caruso Affiliated press release continues to state “No traffic impacts,” reiterating Caruso’s belief that removing the Mobil station will equal the traffic impact of perhaps 54 new businesses, including a specialty grocer, numerous restaurants and a 300-seat movie theater. This simply makes no sense. If Palisades Village doesn’t generate more traffic than a Mobil station, I fear for the project’s economic success. Given the fact that Via de la Paz at the DWP corner will be more congested when the Shell station is replaced by a busier Mobil station and its large convenience store, and that the Monument-Sunset intersection will be a nightmare with cars departing the new underground parking structure, we shouldn’t add traffic to these streets by eliminating Swarthmore as an artery into town. Let’s also consider what a one-way Swarthmore would force drivers to do from the Alphabet side of Sunset. If, for example, they are driving their kids to Village School LETTERS TO THE EDITOR the responsibility of having part-time jobs. Our budding adults, new drivers, would not have to drive Sunset or PCH to Malibu, Santa Monica, Brentwood, or Beverly Hills—their entertainment would be here in our back yard. What if the restaurants have a liquor license? They would finally secure a profitable item to sell, making the business proposition affordable for our growing taxes, business and regulation fees, and employee benefit costs. They could stay in business longer than a couple of years. It may encourage residents to walk to drink and dine—great for reducing traffic and pollutants. What if there is a parking structure? Oh my gosh, no more buzzing round and round seeking somewhere to park—the businesses on Via de la Paz cannot survive with foot traffic only. Our neighborhood streets would not be so packed with employee cars parked all day, every day. Bottom line, to read and hear of any complaints by folks unwilling to invest and develop this business district themselves is a bit of folly. Marjorie “Boofie” Graham Letter from Councilman Bonin Your safety is my paramount concern and I take yesterday’s incident (November 8) extremely seriously. I am pleased to inform you that we have already made progress strategically improving the way we protect your neighborhood. As you know, a few weeks ago, we began installing no camping/no trespassing signage that allows enforcement in the area. Earlier today, I spoke with LAPD Deputy Chief Beatrice Girmala, Commanding Officer of Operations West Bureau, and asked that she work with the Fire Department to increase patrols of the canyons so we can ensure people are not illegally camping and we can prevent the next fire before it starts. or Palisades Elementary, they would have to take Monument across Sunset to La Cruz, navigate an always crowded street to the Swarthmore intersection, and then turn left at this busy intersection to order to reach their school drop-off locations. The same problem exists in the afternoon. If people from the Alphabets wanted to shop or run errands in town below Sunset, they could only use Monument or Via as they tried to try to find a place to park in the Antioch/Swarthmore area. Bottom line: a one-way Swarthmore would prove inconvenient to hundreds of drivers every day, and it would increase traffic congestion on Monument and Via, above and below Sunset. Caruso’s one-way plan would indeed add parking spaces on Swarthmore with angled parking, but the same increase could be achieved with angled parking on a wide, two-way Swarthmore. And safety issues? I can recall only one serious car/pedestrian accident on the street in recent decades. I will appreciate many of the improvements that Caruso Affiliated will bring to Swarthmore and Sunset— walking to a good movie, having a variety of restaurants to enjoy, seeing many more residents enjoying the business district—but let’s keep one tradition from the 1950s: a two-way Swarthmore. Deputy Chief Girmala sprung into action and working with West LA Division Captains Tina Nieto and Darryl Ito, as well as Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Pat Butler, LAPD is immediately taking the following actions to better protect our community: • LAPD’s Air Support Division’s Special Flights Unit will photograph the area in detail so we can track enforcement efforts and develop actions plans. • LAPD will patrol the area a minimum of twice daily. Deputy Chief Girmala has committed to me that she will personally review patrol logs to ensure these patrols are taking place. • LAPD will prepare and distribute informational flyers warning of increased enforcement efforts to come and the LAPD’s intent to conduct a robust citation and arrest program for violators. • LAPD West Division’s transient detail will increase focus on the area. • Planning has begun for several LAPD Task Force operations to be conducted in conjunction with the Department of Recreation and Parks, Park Rangers, the Fire Department and social service providers. These operations will help connect people illegally camping in canyons with available resources. In addition to these immediate actions by LAPD, I am also working with LAFD Deputy Chief Butler, the Pacific Palisades Homelessness Task Force, park rangers and private security to develop an even more robust system to patrol and keep these areas clear. Councilman Mike Bonin Palisades News welcomes all letters, which may be mailed to spascoe@palisadesnews.com. Please include a name, address and telephone number so we may reach you. Letters do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of the Palisades News.
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Second Fire at Lombard

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