News of Venice, CA and Marina del Rey CA
First two pictures were taken Friday morning before Sanitation department cleanup. The trash cans were not completely filled so one would think people would clean up after themselves.
The third photo is taken of a side street off Ocean Front Walk. It is unknown whether Sanitation will clean this up. If not, hopefully the BID Clean team will. Clean Team does not clean up around apartments that are zoned residential.
Porta Potties are delivered to the Rose Ave parking lot every evening between 9 and 10 pm and picked up every morning between 7 and 8 am. A security guard is there at all times. The parking lot closes at 10 pm and the beach curfew is from midnight to 5 am. Councilman Mike Bonin initiated the porta potty this year to help elevate the street defecating. It was reported that 55 people used the facility first night. The police are enforcing the curfew which is from the east side of Ocean Front Walk to the water.
Members of the Panel for the VNC Cannabis Town Hall are, left to right: Michael Jensen, panel facilitator; Sherri Franklin, co-founder of Think and Grow Lab; Alexander Freedman, Deputy City Attorney on Cannabis Law; Cat Packer, executive director and general manager of the Department of Cannabis Regulation; Bruce Margolin, director of La Normal and criminal defense attorney fr 52 years; Ann Lawrence, owner of Rose Collective; and Aaron Riley, president CannaSafe.
Cannabis is the most regulated product in Los Angeles City according to the people on the panel at the Venice Neighborhood Council (VNC) Town Hall Tuesday night.
“If they are not open 9 am to 6 pm, they are illegal,” one licensed dealer said. It was stated at the meeting that there were 169 express authorities that a licensee is involved with and ten agencies monitoring.
The neighborhood councils will become one of the steps taken for licensing of a cannabis business but the VNC decision will not affect the outcome for license approval.
For all cannabis rules and regulations go to cannabis@lacity.org.
The following were frequently asked questions by the neighborhood council members.
Venice Community Housing will be holding Chalk Art Festival Saturday, 17 November, 10 am to 3 pm at Pacific Ave parking lot between North and South Venice Blvd.
Ring in the Christmas Season Saturday, 1 December, 6:15 pm at Windward Circle with the 7th Annual Venice Sign Lighting. Who will be the celebrity guest this year?
Yolanda Gonzalez, local resident, called the County and said they should offer their Marina parking lots to those being evacuated by the fire. She said the yacht clubs would open their parking lots and restrooms to those who had been evacuated.
Also mentioned for emergency parking was the Venice median, which is that area between North and South Venice Blvd, east of Pacific. The Thatcher Yard was also mentioned as a place for temporary emergency parking for evacuees.
It was announced right after the call that Santa Monica had removed all ticketing of preferential parking in their City.
The good news is that Harding has been beautified, Lake is still cleared, and Carter is cleared and clean. Carter can be clean one minute and the next totally occupied.
Beautiful Harding. Neighbors worked with the senior lead office and the property owner.
One man was trying to set up his “stuff” around the corner at Harding and Naples in front of a house.
The bad news is that there is a new encampment on the 90 Freeway median. Last time there was an encampment there, a fire occurred. Fire engines and firemen are at a premium right now.
Harrison was trying to repopulate with this man and another who was parked off the sidewalk.
The park of Penmar with the tent is still there. One reader of the story on the web said the real encampment is west of the golf course. Yes it is. It looks like an alley was blocked off and next to it is a utility box that makes noise continuously.
Staples area is repopulating and the hardware store encampment across the street is growing. Neither is ADA compliant.
North Venice Blvd is growing. It now has a tent across the street and, once again, is extending east to wrap around Ocean Ave. One can tell the police have told them to keep the area ADA compliant and in some areas it is but in photo shown, it is not.
The good news for Venice Blvd is that Taylor Bazley, council representative for Venice, announced at a BID meeting that the council office was working on a beautification program for all the areas around the Farmers’ Market and it would be coming soon. That would take care of that area of North and South Venice Blvd, Ocean, and the tent would go with it. Such a good idea.
South Venice Blvd, west of Dell, encampment has grown since last week but it looks ADA compliant.
The Land Use and Planning Committee (LUPC) will be making a motion to be presented to the Venice Neighborhood Council (VNC) this month that the City provide a feasibility study of certain other sites as well as consider the other sites mentioned for smaller enclaves, rather than one large site for the proposed “Bridge Housing.”
Jim Murez presented a power point Thursday night to an audience of about 15 people and the LUPC committee of several other sites for the “Bridge Home” as alternatives to the MTA site which was selected by the City without any discourse.
Some of the evaluation criteria used for selection was proximity to schools, proximity of entry level jobs, closeness to shopping etc.
First Murez evaluated the MTA site. “The site has a dining area that is totally open which would make people cold or hot depending on the day,” Murez said. No place for meal preparation and no loading area for trucks if food were to be delivered. Lack of parking, animal facilities, utilities. The site is close to a school and surrounded by residential.
One person brought up the fact that the area was close to the beach and that those who were addicted would be close to that environment. One person said “You don’t try to help someone stop drinking and put them next to a liquor store.”
The other places mentioned were the 5601 Manchester, which the LAPD uses infrequently; the City complex on Corinth, which is adjacent to a school; the City complex on Manchester; and someone mentioned the Daniel Freeman Hospital, which is vacant.
To most, the City complex at the corner of Lincoln and Manchester seemed to be the place that made the most sense based on the criteria.
Daffodil Tyminski made the point that why not have a site on all of these places, but just make them smaller, and “it would be nice to have one for just women,” she said.
Joe Clark asked how many in the room liked the MTA site. No one raised his hand. Joe felt the MTA site was the most suitable because of its proximity to the beach. He felt that people came to the beach to be at the beach and to not have the site locally was defeating the purpose.
The vote was 5 to 1 to have a different site other than the MTA lot. The motion will be presented 20 November to the Venice Neighborhood Committee.
Heather Beamer-Kahler captured these two motor homes parked on Thatcher just south of Washington Blvd and asked if these were parked legally. It is assumed picture was taken during the day.
They are within 500 feet of a preschool which is in the Chabad building. They are parked next to property zoned commercial but the properties adjacent are zoned residential. Vehicle Dwelling ordinance LAMC 85.02 is going on its second year and governs motor home placement within the city. According to map, they are in the yellow zone. If motor homes are parked illegally, call LAPD, not parking enforcement.
