Second Fire at Lombard

Palisades News
November 18, 2015 A forum for open discussion of community issues
Page 7
EDITORIAL
Let’s Keep Swarthmore a Two-Way Street
By BILL BRUNS
Palisades News Adviser
When Palisades Village developer Rick Caruso
met with the Community Council’s land-use
committee on October 29, he referenced his plan
to convert Swarthmore into a one-way street from the alley
at City National Bank to Monument. He argued that this
would increase available parking by having angled parking
and would make the street safer and more walkable.
Fortunately, Council member and longtime resident
Sue Kohl recalled an ill-fated experiment in the 1980s
and asked Caruso, “You are aware that Swarthmore was
one-way and it didn’t work?”
“I didn’t know that past,” he replied, and later when
asked the same question he said, “If the community
wants it to go two ways, let it.”
As a 43-year resident of the Alphabet Streets
neighborhood, I think we should take Caruso up on
his offer, and get his one-way Swarthmore idea erased
from his plans to redevelop most of the street (along
with Sunset frontage and the outdoor parking lot).
There are drivers in well over 1,000 households in the
Alphabets—from Via de la Paz over to Chautauqua—
Happy Anniversary to the News
I want to wish you and the entire staff a very happy
first anniversary! In an age when print media is becoming
less read, you had the courage to start a brand new
newspaper in November 2014.
Not only that, but it is incredibly wonderful, informative,
well researched and open to reader contributions
(Viewpoints). Your articles are timely and contain
accurate information. The Homes & Gardens section
in the November 4 issue was great. I found the article
on artificial turf really valuable. It’s especially timely
with many of us replacing our water-hungry lawns.
Thank you again and keep up the great work!
Barbara Gould
Caruso Project Observations
First and foremost, our community is very fortunate
to have the investor/ developer, Rick Caruso, pursue the
re-gentrification of the Palisades, and here are three key
reasons to consider:
1. He is a local, a resident of our neighboring
community, Brentwood.
2. Caruso has taken on all the risk, his money, his time
and effort, for all of our benefit.
3. Let’s say it doesn’t work, perhaps five to seven years,
or 10 years from now, well, gee we are back to what we
have now.
Let’s play the “what if game,” where we consider
alternate realities and real possibilities:
What if he did not invest, and instead a consortium
from another state, or another country had purchased
this property? Bet they could care less what any locals
thought or wanted.
What if there are 54-60 new businesses in our
neighborhood? Our budding adults could grow with
and up into the hills who would be sorely inconvenienced
by losing Swarthmore as an access street into the village
beyond Sunset. And by having only two options—Via
and Monument—we would add to the congestion on
these streets at their Sunset intersections, once Palisades
Village opens.
The latest Caruso Affiliated press release continues to
state “No traffic impacts,” reiterating Caruso’s belief that
removing the Mobil station will equal the traffic impact
of perhaps 54 new businesses, including a specialty
grocer, numerous restaurants and a 300-seat movie
theater. This simply makes no sense. If Palisades Village
doesn’t generate more traffic than a Mobil station, I
fear for the project’s economic success.
Given the fact that Via de la Paz at the DWP corner
will be more congested when the Shell station is replaced
by a busier Mobil station and its large convenience store,
and that the Monument-Sunset intersection will be a
nightmare with cars departing the new underground
parking structure, we shouldn’t add traffic to these streets
by eliminating Swarthmore as an artery into town.
Let’s also consider what a one-way Swarthmore would
force drivers to do from the Alphabet side of Sunset. If,
for example, they are driving their kids to Village School
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
the responsibility of having part-time jobs.
Our budding adults, new drivers, would not have to drive
Sunset or PCH to Malibu, Santa Monica, Brentwood,
or Beverly Hills—their entertainment would be here in
our back yard.
What if the restaurants have a liquor license? They
would finally secure a profitable item to sell, making the
business proposition affordable for our growing taxes,
business and regulation fees, and employee benefit costs.
They could stay in business longer than a couple of years.
It may encourage residents to walk to drink and
dine—great for reducing traffic and pollutants.
What if there is a parking structure? Oh my gosh, no
more buzzing round and round seeking somewhere to
park—the businesses on Via de la Paz cannot survive with
foot traffic only. Our neighborhood streets would not be
so packed with employee cars parked all day, every day.
Bottom line, to read and hear of any complaints by
folks unwilling to invest and develop this business district
themselves is a bit of folly.
Marjorie “Boofie” Graham
Letter from Councilman Bonin
Your safety is my paramount concern and I take
yesterday’s incident (November 8) extremely seriously.
I am pleased to inform you that we have already made
progress strategically improving the way we protect your
neighborhood. As you know, a few weeks ago, we began
installing no camping/no trespassing signage that allows
enforcement in the area. Earlier today, I spoke with LAPD
Deputy Chief Beatrice Girmala, Commanding Officer of
Operations West Bureau, and asked that she work with
the Fire Department to increase patrols of the canyons
so we can ensure people are not illegally camping and
we can prevent the next fire before it starts.
or Palisades Elementary, they would have to take
Monument across Sunset to La Cruz, navigate an always
crowded street to the Swarthmore intersection, and then
turn left at this busy intersection to order to reach their
school drop-off locations. The same problem exists in
the afternoon. If people from the Alphabets wanted to
shop or run errands in town below Sunset, they could
only use Monument or Via as they tried to try to find a
place to park in the Antioch/Swarthmore area.
Bottom line: a one-way Swarthmore would prove
inconvenient to hundreds of drivers every day, and it
would increase traffic congestion on Monument and
Via, above and below Sunset. Caruso’s one-way plan
would indeed add parking spaces on Swarthmore with
angled parking, but the same increase could be achieved
with angled parking on a wide, two-way Swarthmore.
And safety issues? I can recall only one serious
car/pedestrian accident on the street in recent decades.
I will appreciate many of the improvements that
Caruso Affiliated will bring to Swarthmore and Sunset—
walking to a good movie, having a variety of restaurants
to enjoy, seeing many more residents enjoying the
business district—but let’s keep one tradition from the
1950s: a two-way Swarthmore.
Deputy Chief Girmala sprung into action and working
with West LA Division Captains Tina Nieto and Darryl
Ito, as well as Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Pat
Butler, LAPD is immediately taking the following actions
to better protect our community:
• LAPD’s Air Support Division’s Special Flights Unit
will photograph the area in detail so we can track
enforcement efforts and develop actions plans.
• LAPD will patrol the area a minimum of twice daily.
Deputy Chief Girmala has committed to me that she
will personally review patrol logs to ensure these patrols
are taking place.
• LAPD will prepare and distribute informational
flyers warning of increased enforcement efforts to come
and the LAPD’s intent to conduct a robust citation and
arrest program for violators.
• LAPD West Division’s transient detail will increase
focus on the area.
• Planning has begun for several LAPD Task Force
operations to be conducted in conjunction with the
Department of Recreation and Parks, Park Rangers, the
Fire Department and social service providers. These
operations will help connect people illegally camping in
canyons with available resources.
In addition to these immediate actions by LAPD, I
am also working with LAFD Deputy Chief Butler, the
Pacific Palisades Homelessness Task Force, park rangers
and private security to develop an even more robust
system to patrol and keep these areas clear.
Councilman Mike Bonin
Palisades News welcomes all letters, which may be mailed to
spascoe@palisadesnews.com. Please include a name, address
and telephone number so we may reach you. Letters do not
necessarily reflect the viewpoint of the Palisades News.