City Maintenance Yard on Thatcher with all the buildings and six-foot wall down.

Blue Fence Coming

Yard to be fenced with wrought iron (with curve), 8-foot BLUE fence, according to Debbie Dyner-Harris, District Director for Councilman Mike Bonin.

You may have seen how they are progressing well on the Yard demolition. I wanted to let you know about the fencing you’ll be seeing shortly. It is still 8′ wrought iron, with a curve on the top. However, the location of the fencing has been slightly changed. Sanitation was going to install the fencing on the outside of the trees to prevent people from climbing the trees to access the empty lot. However, it was determined that the trees’ root systems and property line location would make that installation very problematic, including either significantly damaging the root systems or putting the fencing in the public right of way. We don’t want to hurt the trees, and we can’t put the fence in the easement, so we have to put it inside the trees.

It will be set back from the trees farther than where the current wall is now, and the design of the fencing will make it pretty impossible for anyone to get in and certainly out as there are no footholds on the fencing. In general, we think the fact that there will be nowhere to hide out there, or even get out, should be significant deterrents.

Finally, rather than giving you a black wrought iron ugly fence to look at, it is going to be blue, as a reminder of how close you are to the ocean. I hope that is okay!

Bonin Wants Yard for Housing

Councilman Mike Bonin announced several months ago that the City Maintenance Yard on Thatcher was being considered for affordable housing.  The following is the letter he distributed to members of the community in close proximity.

Los Angeles is taking action to address the City’s housing shortage, stem the dramatic loss of affordable housing, and put an end to homelessness. The City of Los Angeles is determined to solve these issues, and earlier this year approved its Comprehensive Homelessness Strategy report to address homelessness and the housing crisis.

A critical component of the City’s Homelessness Strategy involves evaluating existing surplus, vacant or underused City-owned properties – either by building affordable housing on-site, or by selling the property to build housing at another location. The City will be examining all of its surplus, vacant and underused properties for these purposes – and one of the first ones we are evaluating are Thatcher Yard (at 3233 S. Thatcher Avenue) in Venice.

Mayor Garcetti and I have asked the City Administrative Officer (CAO) to begin a public process to best determine how to utilize the property. Should we offer a long-term lease to a developer who builds a mix of housing and other neighborhood amenities on site? Should we sell it to the highest-bidder and build affordable housing at another location? Should we do something different?

In the coming months, we will be holding public meetings in your community and distributing public surveys to get your feedback. We will also be creating an advisory panel of local residents to help consider and vet ideas for the property.

As a first step, the CAO is going to ask housing developers to look at our surplus, vacant and underused City properties and generate ideas for public consideration. That will give the City, you, and your neighbors a range of possibilities to evaluate and refine for further public discussion.

Please share this information with your neighbors, friends or colleagues. To share your views on how to best utilize the surplus, vacant or underused property to address the housing crisis, or if you would like to receive updates on the public process, please visit http://www.11thdistrict.com/potential_affordable_housing_opportunities_comments.

Regards,

MIKE BONIN
Councilmember, 11th District