SPRING GENERAL MEETING
“Del Rey Getting Squeezed”
Wednesday, March 28, 2007, 7 p.m.
Marina del Rey Middle School
12500 Braddock Drive

Flag Ceremony – Los Angeles Police Department Explorer Post 1400
Thanks to Officers Newsom and Palomares for their involvement.
Introduction of Officers, Directors and Advisors

Janice Santos, Parliamentarian (appointed position)
Casey Anderson Gross, Membership Chair and Director
Election of Officers – There being no nominations from the floor, the following officers were elected by acclamation:
Chris Nevil, President
George Gross, First Vice President
Wendy Averrill, Second Vice President
Michelle Rudo, Treasurer
Corresponding Secretary, Tobyann Mandel
Recording Secretary, Elizabeth A. Pollock

Introduction of Panel
Moderator Grieg Asher is the chief planning deputy for Los Angeles City Councilmember Bill Rosendahl, District 11, which includes Del Rey.
Scott Malsin, City Council member in Culver City, vice chair of Culver City’s Redevelopment Agency, resident of Culver West.
Todd Tipton, interim community development director for Culver City and interim assistant executive director for Culver City’s Redevelopment Agency.
Steve Napolitano, field deputy for Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe, whose district includes Marina del Rey.
Mike Bohlke, assistant chief deputy to Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, whose district includes Del Rey, and in particular the unincorporated county land west of Centinela Ave. between Jefferson Blvd. and Culver Blvd.
Stan Wisniewski, director of the los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors, which administers Marina del Rey. The Areas Concerned
Culver City has about 38,000 residents and borders Del Rey on the north and east.
Del Rey has about 34,000 residents and is part of the City of Los Angeles.
Marina del Rey has about 8000 residents and covers about 800 acres, half of which is water. It is bounded by the Pacific Ocean, Ballona Creek, Lincoln Blvd. and then Admiralty Way, Washington Blvd. and Via Dolce.
The speakers emphasized that much of the development that is described as being in Marina del Rey is actually located in the City of Los Angeles, but in the part that is west of the Del Rey Homeowner’s and Neighbor’s Association’s territory. (DRHNA’s western boundary runs south on Del Rey Ave., then east on Maxella to Glencoe, then south along Glencoe to Alla Road, then south on Alla to where it connects with the Marina Freeway. South of the Marina Freeway, DRHNA has the section between Culver Blvd. and Jefferson Blvd. to Lincoln Blvd. on the north side of Ballona Creek, and to Bay Street on the south side of Ballona Creek.) The Villa Marina development is part of Del Rey, but not part of DRHNA.
Grieg Asher
Development in Del Rey is guided by the Zoning and Land Use Map for Palms, Mar Vista, Del Rey. That map is described in the Community Plan for Palms, Mar Vista and Del Rey.
Gail Goldberg, Director of the City Planning Department since February 2006, is reviewing various Community Plans. West Los Angeles will be reviewed in 2008, and Palms, Mar Vista and Del Rey will be reviewed in 2009.
The Community Plan shows all kinds of public services, and Del Rey should start thinking now of how it would like the community to look in the future. Culver City has a vision of where it is going, and Marina del Rey is presently undergoing its first modernization since it was built 40 years ago.
Think of the opportunities that are offered by Ballona Creek. Councilman Rosendahl “wants to be the vehicle for everyone’s self-expression.”
Scott Malsin
Culver City is neighborhoods of single family dwellings, and its goal is to preserve quiet neighborhoods and provide nearby shopping that does not spill over into those neighborhoods.

There are four major areas of redevelopment: Washington between Moore and Meier (one block) where the Baldwin Motel was a crime magnet; the former U.S. Liquors property at the intersection of Centinela Ave. and Washington Blvd.; the project on Sepulveda Blvd. between Slauson Ave. and Sawtelle Ave.; the Westfield Shopping Mall renovation at Fox Hills Mall.
Todd Tipton
Culver City has emphasized improving the aethetics of Washington Blvd. (posting banners). They want to work to get community participation re what businesses people want to see on Washington Blvd.
He said he cannot influence the Sepulveda Blvd. redevelopment project because that is being done by a private company.
Steve Napolitano
Marina del Rey must adhere to a Local Coastal Plan and is being squeezed by the City of Los Angeles.
Mike Bohlke
He represents the unincorporated county area in Del Rey and is the person monitoring the condominium development at Grosvenor and Centinela.
Other than a problem with midges on Ballona Creek several years ago, he has had little to do in Del Rey.
Stan Wisniewski
He manages the Marina del Rey harbor. He distributed a table listing 16 Marina del Rey Redevelopment Projects as of March 8, 2007. Eight have completed construction. Five are under construction. Six are expected to begin construction in 2007 or 2008. Seven have signed term sheets. Three are negotiating or are about to start negotiating term sheets. The only high rise is on Parcel 9, which will be developing a wetland as a tradeoff for building on the last piece of undeveloped land in the Marina. (Via Marina at Tahiti)
He said that the development projects that have been approved in Marina del Rey will generate 355 peak hour trips, compared with 1470 generated by the Costco development in Culver City and 8594 peak hour trips generated by approved project in the City of Los Angeles, in the vicinity of Lincoln Blvd. He distributed a list of the approved projects with the trip data.
The Marina has a seven mile waterfront and is keeping a strong focus on recreation and boating. The goal is to shift from a vehicular community to a pedestrian community. Chace Park will be doubled in size, and the water areas in Chace Park will be quadrupled.
Mr. Wisniewski said there are strong limits on what he can control. The goal is to increase the revenue base while opening up the Marina.
Questions from the Audience
These were submitted on cards, rather than having the moderator take questions from the floor.

1. Traffic. The panelists were asked: What is your key transportation challenge?
For Culver City, it is improvement of bus transit (Tipton). Finding a way to balance where people live with where the transit is located. (Malsin)
Marina del Rey is trying to provide transportation alternatives. (Napolitano)
Barry Kurtz, now a transportation engineer consultant to the County of Los Angeles Department of Beaches and Harbors, distributed a list of transportation improvements in the Marina del Rey area – 15 completed, five under construction, 12 proposed as of March 2007. He also distributed a map showing the improvements.
Mr. Kurtz said that the two key near term projects are to put a Rapid Bus on Lincoln Blvd. (done) and to create a bus lane on Lincoln Blvd. (working on it). Long term, the goal would be to have light rail transit on Lincoln Blvd.
He is hoping that the extension of the 90 Freeway to Lincoln Blvd. will be approved.
The peak hour statistics are developed by the National Institute of Traffic Engineers. Each apartment generates 23 trips per day. A house will generate one trip per hour. Each 1000 sq. feet added will generate peak hour traffic.

2. High rises.
A 19 story building (225 ft.) is proposed for Marinda del Rey, but that height is allowed by the Local Coastal Plan. (Napolitano) Culver City has a 56 ft. height limit citywide. (Malsin) In Los Angeles, a 31 story tower on Lincoln Blvd. is going through the entitlement process. (Asher)

3. Graffitti.
Culver City, Los Angeles County and the City of Los Angeles all have contracts with private graffiti removal companies. Wisniewski said that he is responsible for 31 miles of beaches, and the graffiti must be painted out within 24 hours.

4. Ballona Creek.
Los Angeles County is using its Proposition A money for various projects. The Centinela Ave. project was done with the Mountains Recreation & Conservation Authority (MRCA). The County is always looking for land that can be beautified. (Bohlke)
The County favors beautification and restoration of Ballona. Tours are offered. Congresswoman Jane Harmon has taken leadership. (Napolitano)
The Ballona Bikeway is a connection among the communities along Ballona. There have been problems with safety, illegal dumping and homeless encampments along the bikeway, but there are now eight State Lands rangers patrolling the bikeway. (Tipton)
[Editor’s comment: The part-time rangers are employed by the MRCA which is providing the rangers to the group of agencies that own the Ballona Wetlands – State of California (Coastal Conservancy) 640 acres, Department of Fish and Game 540 acres, State Lands Commission 60 acres. The rangers patrol the entire wetlands restoration area.]
The many agencies involved with Ballona Creek “work well together.” (Napolitano). It is all about how to leverage funding to get acquisitions. (Bohlke) Culver City has ample opportunity to come to the table. (Malsin)

5. Business Development
On Washington Blvd., parcels are small, so Culver City is trying to attract good quality, neighborhood serving businesses. (Malsin) They do not want to see big shopping centers coming in.
Marina del Rey is focusing on waterfront, coastal dependent uses, moorage opportunities. Not much more retail. First and foremost, they want to serve the recreational boater. (Wisniewski)

6. Seamless Transit on the Westside
MTA has implemented a “universal fare card” system that is six to eight months from full implementation. The goal is to have a single fare card usable throughout Southern California. The project began 12 years ago, and the next step is a clearinghouse system to allocate fares to the different transit agencies. (Bohlke)
Transportation is the area where the various government entities are working together best. (Malsin)
“Traffic calming techniques” such as speed bumps, traffic circles, are intended for use on residential streets. The streets in Marina del Rey are arterials. Palawan Way and Mindinao Road are “lull” roads. (Kurtz)
Washington Blvd. is used by 30,000 – 40,000 cars per day and is not suitable for traffic calming techniques. Before Costco was built, Culver City used a Neighborhood Traffic Management System in which the residents were asked to participate in planning for the new traffic.

7. Baldwin Hills
Los Angeles County is doing a major revision of the land use plan for the area, starting an environmental impact report on 1200 acres (of which 800 acres are in public ownership), rezoning from agricultural to open space, creating community standards districts. Goal is to take the plan to the Board of Supervisors in 12 months. County is taking the lead but working with Culver City. Oil drilling will be viable another 40 years, so will reexamine every decade. EIR consultant will be introduced April 4, 2007. There will be two scoping meetings in May. (Bohlke)

ADJOURNMENT: 8:50 P.M.