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Venice News Updates

News of Venice, CA and Marina del Rey CA

Garcetti’s Latest on Homeless Ordinances That Passed City Council

Mayor Eric Garcetti’s latest is that he will not sign the new ordinances that were passed by the City Council regarding the homeless but he will not veto them either which means they will become official. But he has refused to allow enforcement of the laws.

He wants amendments to make sure that prescription medication and identification cards are not confiscated.

Venice was hoping this would help clean out the “transient homeless.” Venice is filled with homeless who are not local, in fact most are from out of state. They come for the skateboarding and the easy alcohol and drug life style. Lack of enforcement has allowed the Venice increase in homeless to be up 16 percent, while LA is up 12 percent.

LA Times article.

Planning …

Planning to hear 811-815 Ocean Front Walk, 10:30 am at West Los Angeles Municipal Building, 1645 Corinth Ave, LA 90025.

Owner wants a Coastal Development Permit for the demolition of two existing residential buildings containing a total of nine dwelling units, and the construction of a new 35-foot tall, 2,691 square-foot restaurant on the ground- floor with two residential units above totaling 8,456 square feet, located within the dual-jurisdiction area of the Coastal Zone; and pursuant to the provisions of Section 12.24-W,1 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code, a Conditional Use to permit the dispensing of a full line of alcoholic beverages for on-site consumption in conjunction with the abovementioned restaurant with 100 seats having operating hours between 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday and 8 a.m. to 12 midnight Sunday through Thursday; pursuant to Section 12.27 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code, a variance to allow a combination of mechanical car lifts and tandem parking operated by parking attendants for the commercial required parking with a 22-foot wide drive aisle and 8 feet 4 inches standard stall width and 7 feet 6 inches compact stall width, otherwise not allowed by Section 12.21-A,5 in conjunction with the provision of 26 required commercial on-site parking spaces and 20 bicycle spaces for a total of 31 on-site spaces; pursuant to the provisions of Section 11.5.7 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code, a Project Permit from the Venice Coastal Zone Specific Plan; and a Mello Determination, for the subject project located on a 9,002 square-foot lot zoned C1-1.

In addition owner wants the city to adopt the Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) for the above referenced project.

Comments and questions can be addressed to Kellen Hoime, 213-473-9769, kellen.hoime@lacity.org. Reference case no. ZA2014-3007(CDP)(CUB)(ZV)(SPP)(MEL).

Campbell Found Guilty in 2013 OFW Tragedy

Nathan Louis Campbell was found guilty of second-degree murder int he death of Alice Gruppioni, an Italian tourist. Campbell was also found guilty on several counts of assault with a deadly weapon and hit-and-run charges.

See LA Times article.

Mural Faces Get Names

faces

The mural, painted by Levi Ponce, features colored depictions of (top row, left to right) Albert Einstein, Alan Watts, Baruch Spinoza, Terence McKenna, Carl Jung, Carl Sagan, Emily Dickinson, Nikola Tesla, (bottom row, left to right)Friedrich Nietzsche, Ralph Waldo Emerson, W.E.B. Du Bois, Henry David Thoreau, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Rumi, Adi Shankara, and Lao Tzu.

Last Venice Update, the mural was shown without the names and Update wanted someone to put names to the faces. Gonzo Rock did just that. He showed the mural with the names.

The mural is on the building at 2201 Ocean Front Walk (South Venice Blvd and Speedway) and is part of the Paradise Project.

The Paradise Project, according to their website, is an organization dedicated to celebrating and connecting diverse independent free thinkers who are deeply spiritual about science and nature. We are here to educate, celebrate, and spread an awareness of pantheism – the perception of Albert Einstein, Baruch Spinoza, Alan Watts, and a wide array of scientists, mathematicians, philosophers, poets, and others who teach an enlightened spiritual language and advanced definition of God – that everything, altogether is God; that we are a part of a divine unity; that paradise is here and now.

Who Would Have Thought They Wouldn’t Love ‘Em?

bikerack2

fat rack

Believe it or Not! Not everyone likes the new bike racks that replaced the bollards or were put in to substitute for bollards. The bike racks were intended to make the area look nicer, be more “beachie,” and protect the streets from car intrusion.

“Overkill, ugly, visual intrusion, Venice Beach is backward, more graffiti placement opportunities, etc.” ripple the adjectives off the tongues of those who are not fond of the new, blue racks.

This is what residents see as they walk to the beach after passing the bollards on the speedway.

One resident brought up the fact that with bicycles attached in some cases, the three-foot American with Disabilities Act (ADA) clearance requirement is not met.

“Since I live on 30th, I can say that it makes no sense here,” one anonymous resident said. “It’s a narrow walk street and there are already steel bollards on either side of speedway that block entry of vehicles. And, an “end” sign was recently installed at the corner of speedway and OFW. The blue bollards are overkill, and most assuredly, block access of pedestrians and emergency vehicles.

“These new installations along OFW were never approved by residents. One random incident doesn’t predict a re/occurrence. It’s a false sense of security.
“Where bollards already exist it is a waste of tax dollars and
the associated expenditure was never put to a vote. I object to my tax dollars being spent on redundancy.

“When I bought my home, part of the decision to buy was a view that was free and clear of obstruction. I don’t want this to set a precedent that will diminish the value of my asset.”

bikeracks4
Bollards at 30th protect walk streets off of Speedway.

bikerack
Who wants to walk to street and look at all that stuff?

Name the Faces!!!

Einstein

Building at North Venice Blvd and Speedway sports some heavy faces. Help Update out. Put names to the faces. Go left to right, top to bottom.

Bollards Transcend to Bike Racks

bikerack2

fat rackThese bollard/bike racks were approved by Venice Neighborhood Council 2014.

City is installing new bollard/bike racks at all the openings to Ocean Front Walk from Washington Blvd to South Venice Blvd and a few have been installed north of there.

Bike racks are dual purpose–one to park bikes, but more importantly, to notify drivers that there is no entrance or exit to Ocean Front Walk.

These blue bikes and arches are replacing the bollards now on
Ocean Front Walk. Poster shows the streets where they are
installed or will be installed in the next few days. A three-foot
opening for American Disabilities Accessibility (ADA) is being maintained.

GameTime, maker of the bike racks, said four bikes can be locked to each bike, two on each side. The bikes are welded to an 18-inch spike that is embedded in cement. The arches have a similar mounting system.

After the accident that killed a tourist two years ago, Councilman Mike Bonin made safety of Ocean Front Walk a priority. This is all part of the program the Council office worked out in conjunction with the police department and all the various departments involved with the beach and the local Ocean
Front Walk Task Force.

He asked for inputs from these groups.

Answers came quickly–lights, cameras, street blockage, public address system, walking policemen. The only one that has not occurred is the
public address system.

Lights have been installed. Cameras have been installed but a more comprehensive system is yet to follow. The bikes and arches are part of the street blockage system and beautification of OFW.

wherego
Poster shows what streets are getting what.

many bikes
Picture shows racks loaded with bikes, yet next picture shows empty blue bike rack, which was next to this rack.

thirkielf
Update asked a man named Thirkield why there were so many bikes at the one rack and this bright, shiny blue bike rack had none. Thirkield said there were bikes attached and lined up to where his arm was yesterday. “I guess people just have to get use to it being a bike rack,” he said. Update noticed that many touch and push it to see if it will fall over. Looks fragile but those 18-inch spikes embedded in cement do a great job of stabilizing it and all attached.

Sandy Bike Path

Sand
Bike path near South Venice Blvd was dangerously deep in sand. Bikers seemed to adjust their speeds accordingly.

NO Guns on OFW

Update was told there is a petition circulating that police should not carry guns on Ocean Front Walk. The following submitted by Yolanda Gonzalez might have more information regarding such a movement.
SaveTheDate (2)_000001

2815 OFW Turned Down by VNC

Venice Neighborhood Council denied approval for 2815 Ocean Front Walk. Land Use and Planning had approved it. Zoning Administrator will hear case 10 am Wednesday (27) May at West LA Municipal Building, 1645 Corinth Ave., 90025.

Owner wants to conversion a storage room into a third dwelling unit (DU), within an existing duplex, on a lot that is approximately 2,520 square feet (2,856 square feet including one- half the alley); the resulting density would be approximately one DU for each 952 square feet of lot area.

Venice Specific Plan Exemptions would be:

    From Section 10.F to allow three (3) dwelling units in lieu of the maximum two (2) dwelling units on RD1.5-zoned lots.

    From Section 13.D. and E. to allow a total of six (6) parking spaces: two (2) for each dwelling unit, in lieu of providing a total of seven (7) required parking spaces: two for each dwelling unit and one (1) Beach Impact Zone (BIZ) space.

Comments or questions can be addressed to Kevin Jones at 213-978-1361 email: Kevin.Jones@lacity.org. Reference case Number APCW2014-3157-SPE-SPP-CDP-MEL and ENV2014-3158-MND.