ERRORS (doing business as usual)

A NOT SO FUNNY COMEDY OF "ERRORS"

But first, a gentle reminder:

This is what you will be living with everyday for a year (minimum) if the developers are allowed to build on Crisler Way.

You might think the "stuff falls down hill" aspect only affects the people on Marmont, Crisler Way and Hillside. It also affects everyone on the Laurel Canyon side of Grandview as well because there are (at present) three other proposed new developments on Grandview. Every one of which will generate the kind of activity seen below - and all of the gifts traditionally associated with it.

• No parking

• Blocked streets

• Broken water mains

• Collapsed roads

• Ruptured gas mains

• Mud slides 

- just to name a few

Or, imagine an El Nino microburst on the hill above you after the developers parked their backhoe for the weekend. Just saying. . . 

This could be the view from your window

THE CURRENT STATUS OF CRISLER WAY

• A "hold" has been paced on the project (however, the city has provided no documentation actually confirming this.)

• Concerned Citizens of Kirkwood Bowl* (CCKB) has filed a CEQA-based appeal and is waiting for the city to set an appeal date (four months and counting) 

• The Bureau of engineering issued the B-permit for Crisler Way in "error"

• The Planning Department signed off in "error".

• Four building permits (LADBS) for the four spec mansions on Crisler Way were all issued in "error".

• The process of amending the notification process regarding notification for B-Permits for paper streets needs to be amended to make sure there are no nasty surprises when the developers return. CCKB is working with Council Office 4 to make this happen.

• There are many unanswered questions about the permit notification process. I'll update as soon as we have verifiable answers.

• The B permit for Crisler Way is still currently active at the design plan check.

The developers will most certainly be back, so CCKB is working to change the notification policy before the developer can re-permit. Right now, with the code as is, the developer can begin work and still not be required to notify anyone - until the bulldozers move in.

THE AMENDMENT

If CCKB is successful in having the notification process for B-permits for paper streets amended, neighbors will be notified any time a B-permit for a paper street is requested - from every department or bureau involved in the permitting process, it will set a precedent in fairness in how the notification process takes place. 

As much as it irks me to say it, the current notification (or lack of notification) process is not only unfair to the community, its unfair to developers. It costs them time and money when road blocks such as CCKB pop up.

It's also unfair to the city when they are sued for one of their own "errors".

If everyone concerned knows what is happening at the beginning of the permitting process it will be far more cost effective for everyone concerned. A pattern that runs through many departments and bureaus has become evident:

THE PATTERN

Permits are issued. When contested, they are almost always (Vegas odds) issued in "error" - the city's euphemism for acting against its own codes for no discernible reason and with no accountability. 

If permits are not contested in hearings, etc., its like handing a gift to developers. It gives them a chance slip something by the community (and regulations) with very little risk to themselves. If the error is caught, its the city's fault and since they, for all intents and purposes, are indemnified, the permits are just re-issued and the developer has to go through the process a second time. Just the cost of doing business with the city.

Developers 1 - Community 0. 

The following examples are all projects I have personally been involved with in Laurel Canyon (a very small area). The amount of "errors" is astronomical. They span multiple departments and bureaus including LADBS, the Bureau of Engineering, Planning and Zoning. Sounds like something for the RICO act - ongoing bureaucratic activity. These incidents span a period of years. 

In the case of "paper streets", combining "errors" with no notification of any kind is the reason for the interesting dynamics of the "errored" permitting process for Crisler Way - and probably every other paper street in the city.

ACTUAL ERRORS:

• 8350 Grandview Drive (1812 Crisler Way as its now called).

It has now been determined (after our discovery) that the B-Permit for Crisler Way was issued in "error" in that it required a Zoning Administrator (ZAD) hearing before it could be granted. That never happened yet the permit was issued anyway. This is called an "error" by the city and there is no accountability for the person who made the "error". The six permitting "errors" below were all made on the same project.

Bureau of Engineering B-Permit - error 

LADBS revocation of 4 building permits - 4 errors (no waiting) 

Planning Department - permitting error 

• 8401 Grandview drive Grandview Drive

From a letter from Linn Wyatt (Head Zoning Administrator) the above-noted clearances issued by the Planning Department for Building Permits No. 10010-20000-01857 and No. 10047-20000-00875 for Lots 122 and 123 were issued in error, 

• 8407 Grandview Drive

Zoning error (Linn Wyatt)

• 2244-2246 Stanley Hills Drive

Zoning error (Linn Wyatt)

The above information is what what has been discovered so far in regard to Crisler Way, the permits involved and how permits that never should have been issued were issued. It goes a long way in explaining why so many appeals, hearings and other development "irregularities" constantly lean towards developers and why the community and individuals consistently lose in many of those situations. The process needs to be changed. 

More to come
Skip

*Concerned Citizens For Kirkwood Bowl (CCKB) is a 501c(3) non-profit for public benefit organization that was formed by stakeholders in the Kirkwood Bowl in direct response to Crisler Way and is dedicated to:

•  Helping the community fight rampant overdevelopment.

•  Representing the community at a governmental level working with Council Offices and city government departments to facilitate proper enforcement of city laws.

•  Advocating for wildlife and wildlife habitat

•  Using tax-deductible donations to pay for legal services, expert witnesses, publicity, calls-to-actions campaigns and operating costs (which are kept to a minimum). 

•  Providing their  501 c(3) non-profit status to help support the community and individuals in fighting out of control local development - whether its a McMansion or an entire street.

To Learn more about the Kirkwood 

Bowl Foundation

CLICK HERE

PAPER, SCISSORS, STONE

RE "Paper" Streets Everywhere

A little research with the help of some neighbors resulted the interesting little map below to illustrate in a very simple manner the threat that Crisler Way poses to all of us who live in the hills - not just the people who live on Grandview, Kirkwood and Yucca Trail.

This map only covers a small portion of Laurel Canyon (The Kirkwood Bowl) and the Marmont, Hillside and Crisler Way areas downslope from Grandview, but the same thing is happening all over our hillsides. You can check out your neighborhood "paper" street(s) by clicking on this link  http://www.zillow.com and plugging in your home address. You'll then be able to see any "paper" streets that might be close to you - they're the ones that start where the actual streets end. 

No one thought anyone would be able to build on Crisler Way, but here they are, so don't discount any "paper"street in your neighborhood. 

Where there's a will there's a way.

FYI

Recapping Earlier Posts 

1.  A B-permit was issued for Crisler Way without anyone in the neighborhood receiving a notice. It appears to be totally legal at present. This is on the same street that the 1979 Laurel Canyon fire began and is considered by the LAFD to be the riskiest street for a catastrophic fire event in the City of Los Angeles.

2. The developers want to build a 200 foot driveway (only a small portion of the actual "paper" street) with no fire engine turnaround to support their also building four MacMansions with swimming pools on a 60% grade slope. The "street" will eventually connect with Crisler Way below.

3.  The 200 foot "street: will require a 200' X 10' concrete retaining wall on the upslope side and thirty (30) 3' X 40' concrete caissons on the downslope side of the "street" - the caissons alone will require over 100 Cement trucks to complete.

4. The reason the developer wasn't required to send notices out for a haul route hearing is that he plans to build a wooden chute from Grandview down to Marmont to remove the dirt from the caissons, retaining wall, street and, as soon as possible, four  brand-new mansions. It shouldn't take more than five or six years - if there are no delays. The hundred or so dump trucks required would have to come up Marmont from Sunset.

(This is in addition to three other proposed projects on the same quarter mile of Grandview Drive to be developed at the same time). 

He also plans to run the sewers all the way down to Marmont. I don't know how many trucks that will take but I sure wouldn't want to be living underneath them. Things fall.

5. Concerned Citizens of Kirkwood Bowl has filed an appeal on CEQA grounds and is waiting to learn if it will be heard in front of the Commission of Public Works or the entire City Council. We will notify everyone on our list as soon as we know where, when and  before whom we'll be appearing.

6. Council member Ryu has asked for a stop work order to be issued and as far as we know it's being enforced - but we don't know for sure. We'll inform you if this changes. At best this is temporary. We may need people to appear downtown on short notice, depending on the hearing requirements. 

If anyone would like to be included in our mailing list let me know.

Best regards,

skip

77 Sunset Strip

UPDATE: THE MOST DANGEROUS STREET IN L.A

77 SUNSET STRIP

Well, it's not actually 77 Sunset Strip, it's Crisler Way and it ostensibly will hook up with Sunset. The 77 I'm referring to are the 77 freaking' houses that can be built on the way down to Sunset if Crisler Way is built.

That's right bunky, there are enough plots available along Crisler Way to build 77 HOMES! 

According to my calculations, at a very conservative two years per house (exclusive of the time to build the actual road) lt will take approximately 150 years to fill this little canyon that sits directly above Sunset Boulevard. 

Of course it won't be that long, but in reality, there could be constant construction going on for the next fifteen to twenty years, Baseline Hillside Ordinance or not.

Just this little 200 foot road. . . er. . . driveway (and 4 spec homes of course) project slated in the building plans for Crisler Way will only entail a paltry five to six years of constant construction, street collapses, equipment falling down the hill, street blockages, damaged homes, lawsuits, loss of the thirteen legal parking spaces available on Grandview & Yucca Trail and assorted crimes and misdemeanors. 

You won't even be able to sell your house if you want to get out while the getting's good because any perspective buyer won't be able to get past the cement trucks.

FYI. Here's the entire Crisler Way street map - as thoughtfully provided by the City of Los Angeles and the Bureau of Engineering. 

Oh yeah, the original accelerated street dedication in 2006 was brought to you courtesy of our former beloved Council member, Jack Weiss.

MEET YOUR NEW NEIGHBOR (sort of)

So the name listed as the developer on the building plans is one Aaron Cohen whose business address is listed as 1504 South Flower Street on the building permit.

Before I show you the photo that one of the neighbors snapped of Aaron's place of business I'd like to remind you this is a very expensive and massive project. 

According to the documents available publicly, he (or his company) have already committed over $500,000.00 to this project and they haven't even begun building yet. One would think that anyone who took on a project of this magnitude would have a nice place of business.

This is the photo of 1504 south Flower Street. As far as the neighbor could tell Mr. Cohen's "office" was vacant and looked like it has been for some time. 

Draw your own conclusions.

SIGNS IN THEM THAR HILLS

This doesn't have anything to do with Crisler Way but I thought that everyone in the hills should know about this and as long as I'm sitting here writing this blog I'm including it.

We have tried to get the city to post new NO SMOKING signs in the hills for years. Last year I designed a series of NO SMOKING signs that we put up along Laurel Canyon Blvd. You may have seen them. We were allowed to put them up on Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy property along LCB.

(The only fine we could find was $250.00 for littering)

In the process of designing the signs, I learned that although there was an ordinance prohibiting smoking in what the city describes as an Extra Hazardous High Severity Fire zone, there was in actuality no fine attached to the ordinance - although everyone believed there was a $1000.00 fine if you were caught. An urban legend. 

(Moral of this story - don't believe anything the city tells you - do your diligence and find out for yourself. It's never what it seems and usually works against the community - and I mean this in the nicest possible way.)

Last June I asked Joan Pelico, Council member Paul Koretz's (CD5) chief of staff if there was a way to attach a fine to the ordinance and have the city create official signage. I tried to have our then council member Tom LaBonge CD4 do it but he wasn't interested in helping us out.  I certainly hope David Ryu, our new council member is more interested in our community than our last great leader.

To make a long story short, Paul Koretz put it up to the Safety Committee last June and after going through the City Attorney's office has now (after last Friday) turned into a reality.

Joan Pelico, the "sign", me and John Novella of LAFD

It's a small win for us here in the hillsides, but it's a win thanks to some folks in the city who actually care about the safety of our city - the hillsides in particular.

I'll be working with John Novella to help tweak the design and look for places to post the signs here in the canyon in the very near future (this week or next), God willin' and the creek don't rise. 

This shows we can get something done when we set our minds to it (and work with people in our city government who care about their constituents) - let's do the same with Crisler Way and any other "paper" streets under assault by over development and "hazy" government oversight.

Signing off until the next time,

Skip of the Canyon

UPDATE: THE MOST DANGEROUS STREET IN L.A

Grandview Drive two houses down from Crisler Way (circa 1979)

Hi all,

These posts are my and my neighbor's real life experiences in dealing with this project (and probably others now). I'll post as situations occur. 

Hopefully, they'll provide some "actionable" information and help you avoid wasting time, money, dealing with red herrings, ineffectual lawsuits and dead ends - of which there are many and devious when dealing with the city and land use issues.

If nothing else, it'll help open your eyes to the wonderful world of city government here in the City of Developers. . . er, Angels

ONWARD & UPWARD!

DID YOU KNOW?

People ask this question, without fail, every time this conversation comes up.

" I don't understand! How in the hell can someone build an entire friggin'' street in the middle of a fragile, overcrowded hillside community with the HIGHEST risk of a major fire in the entire city -  without public hearings!! 

Isn't it the law that you have to be notified?"

The short answer is that's a BIG NEGATORY, good buddy - so don't waste any time and energy on this red herring - at least as far as paper streets go. 

May I briefly elucidate. 

It would appear that those rascals at the Los Angeles Department of Building & Safety have the discretionary power to decide if a project needs a haul route hearing or not- and they can do it behind closed doors without any input from the community! 

How do you like them apples?

If LADBS decides to make the decision to apply this procedure (or whatever it is in actuality) to a project, as they have done with Crisler Way, three things happen:

1. There will be no haul route hearing, or apparently any other type of hearing either.

2. NO hearing ergo NO notice.

3. No one in the neighborhood will know about it until the bulldozers move in. 

This scenario, which we are trying learn more about, so obviously favors developers that it gives the appearance of criminal activity, needs to be investigated and changed. I'll keep you updated on this little procedure as we get more facts - which is another story I'll deal with in later posts. Facts seem to be very difficult to obtain from city departments. I wonder why?

The only way to fix this is to change the city government procedures that allow this to happen. The only way that will occur is if we the people get off our butts and force the change - and I mean that in the nicest possible way.

P.S.

I was going to sign off on this right here, but I just received some information I think I should share with you to let you (who haven't been affected by this city procedure yet) see what this means to the neighborhood - unless, of course you're a developer, then you'' love it.

I'll bet a dollar to a doughnut the city pulled the same thing here. Looks like this could happen on every paper street in the city unless the process is changed.

Our neighbors over on Viewmont have now live with this thanks to LADBS's 

"stealth" policies regarding development.

This was a stand of pine trees and a wildlife corridor three months ago - THREE MONTHS!! This will happen to Grandview drive if the developer's allowed to build Crisler Way.

They're comin'