HOLMBY NEWS
September 4, 2020
Due to the heatwave, a Flex Alert has been issued for the holiday weekend. Stay safe, stay cool and conserve electricity to help prevent potential power outages.
From the Holmby Westwood Property Owners Association, serving the Holmby Westwood community since 1960.
1. HWPOA Board Meeting – Video Conference
2. Hair Salons & Barbershops
3. LAPD Crime Report
4. Garbage Collection & Metro Service Changes
5. Noise on Sundays – Mobile Car Wash
6. Westwood Village
7. Housing Bill SB 1120
8. Activities & Things to Do
9. HWPOA Communication and Ad Policy
10. Resident Ads
11. HWPOA Contact Information
1. HWPOA BOARD MEETING – VIDEO CONFERENCE
On Tuesday, September 8 at 7:30 PM, the HWPOA Board of Directors will hold its monthly meeting. Due to social distancing restrictions, the meeting will be a video-conference held online via Zoom. Please click here to see the agenda.
Members of the community are welcome to join the Zoom call. Please let us know if you plan to attend and we will send you the link to access the video-conference. Email Dana at hwpoa@aol.com.
2. HAIR SALONS & BARBERSHOPS
Effective September 2, hair salons & barbershops can re-open for indoor services at 25% occupancy, provided they are in full compliance with the County’s protocols – which include physical distancing and face coverings for both employees and customers, among other requirements.
3. LAPD CRIME REPORT
ASSAULT WITH DEADLY WEAPON (ADW) (likely to produce great bodily injury)
Incident #: 200813465
900 BLOCK HILGARD AV | 8/28/2020 @ 6:00 AM
E-Policing: http://www.lapdonline.org/e_policing
EMERGENCY: 911
NON-EMERGENCY: 1-877-275-5273
All other City Services: 311
Pete Ojeda, Senior Lead Officer
West L.A. Community Police Station – 1663 Butler Ave.
Office: 310-444-0741
Email: 36393@lapd.online
Website: www.lapdonline.org
4. GARBAGE COLLECTION & METRO SERVICE CHANGES
Due to the Labor Day holiday this Monday, trash collection and Metro services have announced the following schedule changes:
- Trash collection next week will be postponed by one day.
- On Monday, Sept. 7, Metro service will operate on Sunday/Holiday schedule. This means that buses that do not operate on Sundays will not run on Monday.
5. NOISE ON SUNDAYS – MOBILE CAR WASH
Many homeowners enjoy and cherish Sunday as a “quiet day” in the neighborhood. However, we have received complaints from homeowners regarding noise from mobile car washes. The equipment used to wash cars can be very loud and sound like a high-pitched chain saw.
If you utilize a mobile car wash to come to your home, please be aware of the concerns of your neighbors and consider switching your car wash to another day of the week. Thank you.
6. WESTWOOD VILLAGE
Dear homeowner,
It’s important that you participate in decisions that are forthcoming in your neighborhood because, if for no other reason, it affects the value of your property. In the late 1920’s, Westwood Village was established to serve the shopping needs of the new university and the surrounding residential communities. Over the years, the Village has changed, with our needs being a much reduced consideration of the Village property owners. As we try to bring families back to Westwood, changes will occur in the planning, the infrastructure, uses, and transportation. The Board will keep you updated and we welcome your thoughts and comments. Please email hwpoa@aol.com. We look forward to hearing from you!
Westwood Village is managed by a Business Improvement District (BID), better known as the Westwood Village Improvement Association (WVIA). Its charge has always been Clean, Safe, and Beautiful. Something went horribly wrong. The pandemic certainly did not contribute to a healthier village but the decline over the past decades has been noteworthy. Too many food uses and not enough mouths to feed forced some of the multiple pizza restaurants, noodle restaurants, and fast food restaurants to close. The lack of daytime parking has discouraged many nearby residents and forced them to shop elsewhere. The property owners, to my knowledge, have never met to discuss the kind of village only they have the ability to define. Westwood Village needs a balance that serves communities that together make up Westwood.
There is a strong disconnect between those who own homes in the surrounding residential community and those who work or attend school in Westwood. That is why the Specific Plan that governs Westwood addresses a “balanced mix of uses” and a village that serves the surrounding residential community as well as students, faculty, staff, and nearby employees. Until that is addressed, there will be no solution to a community friendly, well used shopping, dining, and entertainment district.
Many years ago when the village had a single owner, it was managed like a shopping mall. It had several drugstores, several groceries, several shoe and speciality stores, student stores, banks, sit-down restaurants, entertainment venues, jewelry stores, and print shops. In other words, one owner could control a balanced mix of uses to serve the surrounding community. Today, there are more than 60 property owners with no unified vision. Another pizza or sub sandwich food use is acceptable as long as it pays the rent. Six months later, the business is closed and a different establishment appears. During the year 2018-2019, Westwood Village lost 25 restaurants – they were on every corner and mid block.
Some of our residents have taken one or two surveys about the Village as the city tries to plan for a healthier shopping/ dining/ entertainment experience. Jann Williams, a HWPOA Board member, chairs our Westwood Village Committee and, with her members, studied the history of the commercial area, its uses then and now, its parking, infrastructure and Village property ownership. A letter from HWPOA was sent to the Planning Dept. of the city, addressing parking and restaurant use based on her committee’s findings. A second letter was sent to the WVIA. Handicap parking abuse that takes up over 40% of on-street parking meters must be addressed at the state level.
One of the principles of the existing Westwood Village Specific Plan is to “permit, encourage, and facilitate the provision of basic services and amenities (in particular, short term daytime parking and pedestrian amenities) that will permit the Village to function as a shopping area.” The letter to the WVIA states that there is an interest in more up-scale shops and children related retail. Another stated interest is to maintain the historic structures which give Westwood Village a distinctive character. There are incentives to rehabilitate and use these buildings in order to maintain their profitability.
Ultimately, there will be no resolution to the issues confronting the Village unless the city makes the homeowner community an equal partner in moving this forward. We want to see Westwood thrive and Holmby Westwood POA can help in the revitalization process. Our residents have made a huge investment in Westwood. The Village needs to step up and the WVIA needs to pay greater attention to the details to improve Westwood Village for all of us who have a stake in its survival.
Sandy Brown
7. HOUSING BILL SB 1120
State Senate Bill 1120, an effort to allow duplexes on most California single family lots died early Monday morning, Aug. 31st. Interestingly, it passed the Assembly late Monday night but died when the year’s legislative session came to an end (at midnight) before the Senate could take it up for a vote. The HWPOA Board of Directors voted to oppose SB 1120 because it would forever change single family neighborhoods across the state.
8. ACTIVITIES & THINGS TO DO
VIRTUAL AFTER-SCHOOL CAMP – UCLA Recreation is offering virtual after-school camps for kids ages 4-13. Some of the camp options include Ecosystem Explorers, Bruin Cuisine and and Little Bruin Book Club.
Fall camps begin September 14. Registration is now open!
Learn more about Virtual After School Camps
UCLA BOTANICAL GARDEN – To our Holmby Westwood neighbors, we were deeply saddened to close the Botanical Garden to the public a few weeks ago. We will continue to work to get the Garden reopened for our neighbors as soon as possible as we know how important access to nature is, especially during these strange times. In the meantime, we welcome you to join us for a variety of virtual autumn events in the Garden focused around the arts.
Click here for information about upcoming virtual events
- Telluric Vibrations Sci Art Festival
September 9th-13th - Botanical Art: A Continuing Tradition (public lecture) with Artist Deborah Shaw
Thursday, September 24th, 5:00pm – Zoom - Nature Journaling Workshop with Artist Deborah Shaw
Saturday, October 10th, 10:00am – Zoom
9. HWPOA COMMUNICATION AND AD POLICY
Please direct all comments, questions or issues regarding the Holmby News to hwpoa@aol.com.
Ads for plumbers, housekeepers, garage sales, etc. will be posted in the weekly News. Emergency situations such as lost and found pets, traffic alerts and similar situations will be published during the week as received.
When placing an ad, please send to hwpoa@aol.com for the Holmby News moderator to review. Responses to ads should be directed to the ad placer, not to HWPOA.
10. RESIDENT ADS
GARDENER RECOMMENDATION
Hello,
After searching for the perfect Gardener I finally found Juan!! Please interview him and you too will like him.
Juan Antonio Salas
(323) 578-3048
He actually gets the job done and breaks down the estimates. He is honest and fair!
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GROUP FOR PEOPLE WITH A CHRONIC LUNG CONDITION
I host a meeting every other month for people with chronic lung conditions other than TB or cancer. It’s a very informal support and information group, free of charge, which has been ongoing for about 15 years. The meetings bring together people who all share a common health problem, so we can feel completely comfortable talking about our lung issues in a warm, supportive environment. Each of us has a history of diagnosis, treatment, and day-to-day experience that is very helpful for answering our questions and getting the benefit of people’s personal experience. Even with the best of doctors, this is an invaluable service.
We are affiliated with a national non-profit organization, NTM Info & Research (NTMir), formed on behalf of patients with pulmonary nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) disease for the purpose of patient support, medical education, and research. The organization comprises patients, physicians and other medical practitioners, and researchers.
Our group is open to all and, due to the coronavirus, the next meeting will be on Zoom, Monday, September 7 at 1:00. Here is the link to participate: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81486037840
Please feel free to contact me for more information. I look forward to speaking with you and meeting you on Zoom.
Andrea Smith, ablsmith@dock.net; 310-470-8343 (home); 310-770-5674 (cell)
11. HWPOA CONTACT INFORMATION
HOLMBY WESTWOOD PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC.
P.O. Box 49180
Los Angeles, CA 90049
310-470-1785
Email: hwpoa@aol.com
Web site: www.holmbywestwoodpoa.org
Pay Membership Dues: https://hwpoa.square.site/
You Are Invited . . .
- To attend our monthly Board Meetings*
- To let us know your concerns about our community and your ideas about how we might work to improve it
- To become involved in our Association.
*Board Meetings are usually held the second Tuesday of each month. Please confirm prior to attending.