Councilmember Champions Valley Business Leadership

Councilmember LaBonge attended a sold out luncheon held by the Valley Industry and Commerce Association (VICA) on Thursday. The annual meeting is held between elected officials and members of the San Fernando Valley business community in order to discuss business sustainability and growth.
"VICA is an important organization for Los Angeles," Councilmember LaBonge said. "They work to promote the businesses that serve the over 40 percent Angeleno population residing in the San Fernando Valley. Today, we're going to open the discussion about what other avenues the City can take to champion business growth in the Valley."
About VICA VICA is widely considered one of the most influential business advocacy organizations in Southern California. With its knowledge of the legislative process and economic issues, VICA's access to public officials ensures that the San Fernando Valley's business perspective will be heard in the interest of improving our business climate and quality of life. With input and guidance from its members, VICA maintains a regular presence at all levels of government to effectively represent Valley businesses.

New NoHo Skate Park

Councilmember Tom LaBonge joined skateboarder Rob Dyrdek - star of MTV’s Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory – along with 7-Eleven® stores representative Koorosh Sharhokh and hundreds of skateboarders to celebrate the grand opening of a new state-of-the-art Skate Plaza at North Hollywood Park.
“Parks are extremely important, but I’m following my 12-year-old son Charles who was a community activist for this park,” said Councilmember LaBonge. “We are very grateful to Rob Dyrdek and 7-Eleven for their passion, energy and commitment to this great addition to North Hollywood Park.”
The Rob Dyrdek Safe Spot Skate Spot in North Hollywood officially opened at 4 p.m. Tuesday, May 18. Dyrdek and friends demonstrated street skateboarding moves for students from nearby East Valley High School to inaugurate the Skate Plaza. Visitors also scored free exclusive 7-Eleven Wild Grinders giveaways like cups, T-shirts, key chains and more.
A $250,000 donation from 7-Eleven to the Rob Dyrdek Foundation helped Dyrdek realize his vision for this skate park. Councilmember LaBonge and the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks worked together to secure an additional $250,000 in funds to complete construction and landscaping improvements for the new public facility. The Recreation and Parks funds came from Quimby funding from developers of nearby condominium projects.
Kevin Regan, Assistant General Manager for the Department of Recreation and Parks and Cynthia Ruiz, Chair of the Board of Public Works, were also on hand for the ribbon-cutting.

Metro Universal Site Visit

To promote clarity and understanding of the issues surrounding the proposed Metro Universal project on Lankershim Boulevard, Councilmember LaBonge met with Metro officials at the site on Monday.
The Councilmember wanted to be clear about why he is opposing the project, as it is now proposed.
"I can't support it because it's too tall, too dense and would create too many negative impacts on the community," Councilmember LaBonge said.
The Councilmember drove the local streets with Metro CEO Art Leahy; the agency's Chief of Real Property Management & Development Roger Moliere and Executive Director for Highway Programs Doug Failing.
The 1.47 million square-foot Metro Universal project, planned for 3875 N. Lankershim Boulevard, would include over 600,000 square feet of office space, a hotel, media production facilities, retail space, residential units and parking for more than 3,000 vehicles.
Councilmember LaBonge is concerned about the traffic it would generate on already overtaxed freeways and streets, among other things.
For more information on this project, click here.

Councilmember Investigates Water Line Ruptures

In an effort to determine the cause of the burst water lines over the past ten days, Councilmember LaBonge contacted earthquake expert Dr. Lucy Jones to ask if seismic activity could be to blame.
“We have to do everything we can to determine how these ruptures happened to prevent another surprise,” Councilmember LaBonge said. “We had two extreme incidents over the weekend, but smaller leaks are occurring all over the city, several in my district alone. If one of those leaks is going to cause a flood, I want to know so that we can take precautionary measures now.”
Two separate water lines burst within two miles and three days of each other in the San Fernando Valley. The first break occurred on Sept. 4th and sent mud and water into the streets, homes and businesses of Studio City. The second break in Valley Village on Tuesday morning caused a sink hole large enough to engulf a fire truck.
Dr. Lucy Jones, Chief Scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey, told Councilmember LaBonge that seismic activity cannot be blamed for the ruptures.
"There has been no unusual seismic activity anywhere in Los Angeles that could explain the water main breaks," Dr. Jones said. "The earthquakes are monitored jointly by Caltech and the U.S. Geological Survey. We distribute all our data openly on the Internet. You can see all the earthquakes recorded in the last week by clicking here."
On Wednesday, the City Council had an in-depth briefing from top-level officials from the Department of Water of Power on the causes of and response to the ruptures.

Councilmember Tells Metro to Cut Back Development Plan

About 25 community activists from Toluca Lake, Valley Village and the surrounding area backed Councilmember LaBonge in his opposition to the proposed Metro Universal development.

Councilmember Tom LaBonge called on Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, as chairman of the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, to scale back the Metro Universal development project that is proposed for Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood.
“I’m calling on the Mayor and the Metro board to do the right thing and reduce the density of this project planned for my district,” the Councilmember told reporters at a press conference near the proposed development site this morning. “The MTA’s mission is provide public transit, not to develop overly dense speculative projects.”
The Councilmember presented a letter to the Mayor that outlines his objections to the proposed 1.5-million-square-foot commercial development. The Councilman has received an overwhelmingly negative reaction from the public on this proposal, which would include taking land from neighboring Weddington Park South by eminent domain. Phase I of the project would include a 22-story office tower, studios and parking lots.
The Draft Environmental Impact Report for this project is available online by clicking here. The Councilmember urged residents to respond to the Draft EIR before the Nov. 24 deadline. He called on the Mayor and the MTA board to renegotiate the development deal, reduce the size of the project and limit it to the parcel already owned by the MTA.
Joining the Councilmember were community activists from several area neighborhoods, including Roy Disney and Richard Bogy of the Toluca Lake Chamber of Commerce; and Terry Davis, president of the Greater Toluca Lake Neighborhood Council.

September 11th Memorial

Councilmember LaBonge led a candle-lit memorial ceremony for those who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

About 60 residents gathered at North Hollywood Park to light candles, sing together and remember those who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Councilmember Tom LaBonge led the seventh annual memorial service, which was co-sponsored by Council District 4 and the Hollywood/Los Angeles Beautification Team (H/LABT).

“It’s important to remember the events of September 11th and honor the hundreds of New York City firefighters and average people who demonstrated extraordinary heroism in the face of terror,” the Councilmember said. “I am humbled by this event every year.”

The ceremony included invocations by the Revs. Charel Morris and Linda Melnick of the International Congregation of Sacred Healers and Earth Stewards as well as comments from Councilmember LaBonge; Department of Recreation and Parks Assistant General Manager Vicki Israel; Hollywood/Los Angeles Beautification Team Founder and Executive Director Sharyn Romano; Los Angeles Police Department Capt. John Peters and Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Peter Benesch of Battalion 14.

The H/LABT and CD4 planted 83 memorial trees of different varieties in North Hollywood Park in 2002, one for each Californian who was killed in the attacks. (Click on "Photo Gallery" above for more photos from this event.)

City Toughens Soil Stability Requirements

A home in the Hollywood Hills that was damaged during 2005 rainstorms.

Hillside residents will welcome the rain now that, thanks to Councilmember LaBonge, the city is adopting tougher soil standards for construction in steep hillside areas. After the record rain storms of January, 2005, mudslides forced officials to close several canyon roads, some of which remained closed for months. Over 100 hillside buildings were also “red-tagged” by the City, which means they were declared “unsafe to occupy,” and residents of the Mount Olympus neighborhood in Council District 4 were temporarily evacuated. The councilmember immediately directed the Department of Building and Safety to review its standards for soil stability in these areas and determine whether requirements need to be tougher. After careful review, the department determined that every building that had been red-tagged was constructed before current building, grading and soil stability standards were in place. To tighten enforcement of those standards, however, the city will now require all new hillside development - including building additions and major improvements – to supply engineering and geological reports on the mitigation of flood and mudflow hazards. “Soil stability isn’t glamorous or exciting until you wake up on a rainy night and your house is sliding down the hill,” the Councilmember said. “I made sure the City is doing everything possible to protect people and their homes if a mudslide should happen.”

City Council passes anti-mansionization ordinance

The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved an ordinance on Tuesday that limits the building of over-sized McMansions on small lots throughout the city. This vote was a victory for Councilmember LaBonge, who championed this issue for more than a year. The result is a fundamental change in the city of Los Angeles zoning code.

“This ordinance is about preserving neighborhood character,” LaBonge said. “We wanted to make sure that neighborhoods that we know and love are protected by the proper zoning laws.”

Changes in land value, housing preferences and housing inventory have been contributing to a trend toward larger single family homes being constructed throughout Los Angeles. When larger homes replace bungalows built when Los Angeles was first developed, however, the larger structures are often incompatible with the established scale and character of older, single-family neighborhoods.

The Baseline Mansionization Ordinance grew out of a motion introduced by Councilmember LaBonge in June, 2006 and pertains to homes in flatlands only. A separate ordinance, which is now under consideration by the Los Angeles Planning Department, addresses the expansion of homes in hillside and coastal areas. As part of the discussion leading up to the vote on this measure, the City Council pledged to bring the hillside anti-mansionization ordinance for a vote within two years.

Under the new ordinance, which will be effective in 30 days, a bungalow on a typical 5,000-square-foot lot could be expanded to 3,000 square feet. Current zoning code allows more than twice that mass, with a 7,000-square-foot limit.

The ordinance will apply to 300,000 properties in single-family residential zones throughout Los Angeles.