Venice Stakeholders Association Calls for Stronger Municipal Storm Water Runoff Permit Requirements

The Venice Stakeholders Association (VSA) has called for stricter requirements in the revised municipal storm water run-off permit now under consideration by the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board.

VSA president Mark Ryavec testified before the Board, noting that, “It has been 22 years since the first discharge permit was established to eliminate contaminants from entering coastal waters yet in wet seasons the beaches are still awash in a toxic soup.”

Ryavec points out source of winter season "toxic soup"

“While progress has been made in the dry season, we still have beaches with “C” grades near Temescal Canyon in the Palisades and Mothers Beach in Marina del Rey, and failing grades in the winter months all along LA’s coast,” Ryavec said.  “We really need to do more to clean-up this precious resource.”

“I’m speaking to the “retail” aspect of the Board’s consideration of the permit’s conditions,” Ryavec said.  “Venice residents rely on clean, safe beach waters every day for swimming, wading and surfing, yet there are many periods in the winter months when it remains dangerous to one’s health to enter the water.”

“Venice Beach attracts 16 million visitors a year and many of those visitors pump millions of dollars into the many businesses and hotels in our community,” Ryavec said. “Yet these visitors, both foreign and domestic, come year-round and many tell us they worry about the safety of going into the surf.  In the wet season, their concerns are not easily dismissed.”

The VSA joined Heal the Bay, Los Angeles Waterkeeper and Natural Resources Defense Counsel in asking for stricter water quality standards, early setting of the maximum allowed levels of various chemicals and pollutants in storm water, containment of more storm water by new “Low Impact Development” standards for new construction, and more aggressive water quality monitoring.

VSA Endorses Bicyclists Safe Passing Bill - SB 1464

 

                                                              

Governor Edmund G. Brown

State Capitol

Sacramento, CA  95814

Re:  SB 1464 to Safeguard Cyclists

Dear Governor Brown,

I'm writing on behalf of the Venice community and cyclists throughout California to urge you to sign Senate Bill 1464 so that drivers must give at least three feet of clearance when overtaking a person on a bicycle.

When a passing driver fails to give a bicyclist enough space, the slightest error by the driver or the most minor shift by the bicyclist to avoid trash, broken glass, a car door opening or rough pavement can lead to a collision. This type of collision is the leading cause of adult bicyclist fatalities in California and the U.S.

By requiring drivers to give bicyclists more space when passing, we can minimize a leading cause of deadly collisions and help more people feel comfortable about choosing to ride their bikes. And by making it possible for more people to feel confident about choosing to ride a bicycle, we can encourage more Californians to bike routinely and begin to achieve some of the state's crucial goals for less gas consumption and improved air quality.

Specifying a minimum passing distance provides a more objective and easily understood measure of what constitutes "safe" and gives law enforcement and the courts a more objective basis for enforcing a safe passing requirement. Most importantly, it helps emphasize a driver's responsibility to safeguard more vulnerable road users like bicyclists. It will save lives without imposing any costs on government.

Please sign SB 1464 into law.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely yours,
Mark Ryavec

Mark Ryavec, President

KTLA News Story on Venice Beach Recreation Area

KTLA News Story on VSA call for enforcement of laws against camping equipment and storing personal possessions on the Boardwalk and in the Venice Beach Recreation Area:

http://landing.newsinc.com/ktla/video.html?freewheel=91045&sitesection=KTLA_nws_loc_non&VID=23772398

From the LA Times:

Venice group threatens lawsuit over camping along boardwalk

August 8, 2012 |  3:13 pm

  

A nonprofit group in Venice sent Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa a letter this week demanding that city leaders remove encampments along the Venice Boardwalk, saying the city is treating different parts of the city differently when it comes to illegal camping.
In a letter that also went to Councilman Bill Rosendahl, the Venice Stakeholders Assn. said “Skid Row”-type conditions had developed along the boardwalk, with tents, sleeping bags, bedrolls and other personal possessions lining the walkway. That situation, the group says, is a far cry from the “pristine” conditions on the City Hall south lawn, which received new landscaping and anti-camping signs in the wake of the Occupy L.A. encampment.
“L.A.’s politicians spent over a million dollars to restore their City Hall Park and are enforcing every conceivable law to keep it attractive,” said Mark Ryavec, president of the Venice Stakeholders Assn., in a statement. “But along Venice Boardwalk, the Department of Recreation and Parks and the LAPD allow campers to violate a slew of city laws against using camping equipment and storing personal property on park land and City rights-of-way.”
Ryavec said his group has retained an attorney and will sue if the city fails to act. The City Hall park reopened last month, but only after the council added new provisions to its ban on camping in city parks.
“Clearly our lawyer believes there’s a public nuisance suit here. Cities bring them against private property owners all the time, only in this case it’s the municipality with the public nuisance.”
A spokesman for Villaraigosa said he believed the mayor had not seen the letter. Rosendahl, whose district includes Venice, had no comment. His chief of staff, Mike Bonin, said the letter had been forwarded to the city's lawyers.

City Enabling "Skid Row" at Venice Beach While It Cleans Up Downtown Parks

Press Release                                          

VSA Documents Blatant Unequal Enforcement of

City of Los Angeles’ Park Ordinances

Public Nuisance and “Skid Row” Conditions Result in the Venice Beach Recreation Area

(Venice, CA/8-8-12)  The Venice Stakeholders Association today released a letter to City officials which documents that the City of Los Angeles is blatantly engaged in unequal enforcement of city park ordinances, which has resulted in “Skid Row” conditions along the once popular Venice Boardwalk.

The letter, prepared by attorney John Henning for the VSA, shows the pristine condition of City Hall Park, once the site of a large “Occupy LA” encampment, and LAPD Headquarters park, and compares them to the Venice Beach Recreation Area where there is frequent use of banned camping equipment and trash dumps along the Boardwalk.

“LA’s politicians spent over a million dollars to restore their City Hall Park and are enforcing every park law to keep it attractive,” VSA president Mark Ryavec said, “but along Venice Boardwalk, the Department of Recreation and Parks and the LAPD allow campers to violate a slew of city laws against storing personal property on park land and the use of banned camping equipment.”

The result is that squatters have taken over the park from residents and visitors, many of whom do not feel safe using the park, the neighborhood leader said.

For example, Henning notes in the letter: “…occupying a sleeping bag or bedroll within a City park for any purpose is forbidden by City ordinance. Specifically, the phrase “for any purpose” is unequivocal and strips the ordinance of any requirement that a violator have the specific intent to use the sleeping bag or bedroll for lodging or living accommodation as opposed to recreation.” 

“Yet Rec. and Parks staff and the LAPD allow the wide use of sleeping bags in the park on a daily basis,” Ryavec said.

“These conditions are alarming to residents and clearly having a negative affect on visitors, who frequently complain about being harassed on the Boardwalk and fearful of bringing small children to the beach in this part of Venice,” Ryavec explained.

The Henning letter notes that a lawsuit could be brought under the California Civil Code to abate the public nuisance the City is now allowing at Venice Beach.

VSA Motion Calls for Enforcement of City Laws Banning Occupying City Sidewalks, Parks and Parking Lots

VNC to Consider VSA Motion Calling for Enforcement of
City Laws Prohibiting Blocking Public Rights-of-Way
and Using Public Property for Storage of Personal Possessions

(Venice, CA/7-12-12)  On Tuesday, July 17, the Venice Neighborhood Council will consider a motion prepared by the Venice Stakeholders Association (VSA), which calls for enforcement of City ordinances which ban occupying or blocking public property.

The Motion was approved by the VNC’s Public Safety Committee on a 3/2 vote and now goes before the full VNC at the meeting, scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

“Our goal is twofold,” said Mark Ryavec, president of the VSA. “First, we want to send a clear message to the City and the Los Angeles Police Department that Venice residents expect all applicable ordinances that ban occupying public property, storing possessions on public property and blocking public rights-of-way to be consistently enforced. Second, we would ask that the LAPD, in the course of enforcing these ordinances, to offer referrals to those who may need services and housing.”

The motion approved by the VNC committee enumerates numerous city ordinances that prohibit occupying or obstructing public rights-of-way. It also describes the two narrow circumstances in which the courts have temporarily limited enforcement of the relevant ordinances, one of which does not even apply to Venice.

Ryavec said that LAPD appears to be refraining from fully enforcing certain ordinances because of the possibility of litigation against the City. “We applaud the work the LAPD and the City Attorney’s Office have done under the constraints they face,” Ryavec said, “but we think they can and should do more under existing law.”

Ryavec noted, for example, that under a beach curfew presently in effect, no one is allowed on the beach, the grassy areas of the Venice Beach Recreation Area or the Boardwalk from 12 to 5 AM, and yet there are literally tons of personal possessions stored overnight in these areas, in violation of separate ordinances that prohibit obstructing public rights-of-way and storing private property on public rights-of-way.

“It looks like Skid Row along some stretches of the Boardwalk, especially around Rose and Ozone Avenues,” Ryavec said. “Allowing this area to be used for storage is a violation of City law.”

The Venice Neighborhood Council meets at the Westminster Elementary School.

MOTION

Whereas, the Los Angeles Municipal Code (“LAMC”) contains the following provisions governing public rights-of-way and City parks:


· LAMC § 62.61(b), which states that “No person shall … obstruct any public street or right-of-way for any reason without first applying for, in writing, and obtaining a permit from the Board of Public Works,” and which thereby prohibits any obstruction of a sidewalk or parkway or any portion thereof, regardless the nature or scope of the encroachment without a permit;


· LAMC § 41.18(a), which states that “No person shall stand in or upon any street, sidewalk or other public way open for pedestrian travel or otherwise occupy any portion thereof in such a manner as to annoy or molest any pedestrian thereon or so as to obstruct or unreasonably interfere with the free passage of pedestrians,” and which thereby prohibits occupation of any portion of a sidewalk or parkway in a manner that annoys any pedestrian or obstructs the free passage of pedestrians;


· LAMC § 41.18(d), which states that “No person shall sit, lie or sleep in or upon any street, sidewalk or other public way,” and which remains fully in effect 24 hours a day despite the City’s settlement in Jones v. City of Los Angeles, which settlement in any event pertains only to the enforcement by the City of the ordinance between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.


· LAMC § 56.11, which states that “No person shall leave or permit to remain any merchandise, baggage or any article of personal property upon any parkway or sidewalk,” and which remains fully in effect notwithstanding the preliminary injunction in Lavan v. City of Los Angeles, which injunction in any event pertains only to “Skid Row” in downtown Los Angeles.


· LAMC § 63.44(D), which states that “Within the limits of any park other than beaches, no person shall . . . Camp or lodge, except in locations designated for such purposes,” and which thereby prohibits any camping on Ocean Front Walk or any other portion of the Venice Beach Recreation Area;


And whereas, the Venice Neighborhood Council considers public rights-of-way and City parks – including sidewalks, parkways, streets, parking lots and public parks – to be for the shared use of residents and visitors in accordance with the municipal code sections enumerated above, and believes that these areas should not be obstructed or occupied except when specifically authorized under an applicable City ordinance;


And whereas, the Venice Neighborhood Council wishes that the Los Angeles Police Department, in enforcing these laws, provide referral to any person in need of services and/or housing who may violate these laws;


Now, Therefore, Be It Resolved, that the Venice Neighborhood Council calls upon the Los Angeles Police Department to consistently enforce the above laws, while offering referrals to those who may
need services and housing.

So, Who’s Telling the Truth…?

Here’s one more odd chapter in the chronicle of “Stakeholders vs. City Hall” in the effort for residents to feel safe in their homes and on the sidewalks of Venice.

I was invited to Paramount Pictures last week to hear the Mayor give his annual “State of the City” address.  We all sat in the studio’s large theater and heard about the successes and remaining challenges of the City’s many transportation projects.  While he touched on some other topics, “LA Fast Forward” and fulfilling Tom Bradley’s vision of a “subway to the sea” were the centerpieces.

Then, bogged down in traffic on Melrose, I noticed that Mozza Osteria, a restaurant I had been meaning to try, was just ahead.  Since the Mayor’s traffic improvements were not in evidence in the stalled traffic, I dropped the car off to a valet and found a seat at the bar for dinner.

Some commotion behind me made me turn my head and there I saw the Mayor sitting with what appeared to be his girlfriend and other family members.  He was frequently out of his seat, greeting other diners or talking on the phone.

I thought to myself, would it be appropriate to ask the Mayor for a moment to talk about the public safety issues we’re seeing here in Venice.  I kept thinking about this while I enjoyed a terrific meal.  As I was finishing up, I thought, why not ask; he’ll just say “yes” or “no.”  So, I scribbled out a note on the back of a business card and gave it to one of those sitting with the Mayor, since his eminence was off again in an alcove on his cell.

A member of his party came over and said the Mayor would speak with me right then.

He was welcoming.  When I told him that I wanted to talk with him about the problems we are having with transient encampments in Venice, he interrupted me and said the real problem was that the council district “has no leadership.”  Then he made another derogatory remark about Bill Rosendahl.

He volunteered that Bill had called him a day or two earlier and asked him to initiate criminal prosecution against me for having posted addresses on the VSA website [of the Mayor, Bill, a deputy mayor, the editorial editor of the LA Times, the lawyer who frequently represents transients, and some other local homeless advocates who by my estimation would welcome the homeless to sleep on their parkways, given that they oppose enforcement of City laws against camping on public property].

I was taken aback for a moment.  This certainly conflicted with Bill’s usually avuncular demeanor and his comment to me two nights earlier that he would give me $20 to pay some homeless person’s bus fare to come camp on his sidewalk.  Bill had told me to leave him on the list.  (It was also odd procedurally because the City Attorney and District Attorney have prosecutorial authority, not the Mayor.)  The Mayor then said, “You are Mark Riabec, right”?  And I replied, “Mark Ryavec, and we’ve met numerous times.”  He said, “Yes, that’s what Bill called about and something about some woman.”

Then we went on to talk about the encampment problems in Venice, the recent attack on two residents on 3rd Avenue, etc.  I told him that Bill had told me that enforcement was out of his hands and that Chief Beck reported to the Mayor, not Bill.  I also told him that Bill had said that either the Mayor or Larry Frank, a deputy mayor, had stood in the way of enforcement of City laws, on the Boardwalk and more recently with the encampment on 3rd Avenue.  The Mayor said, “Not at all.  We’ve stayed out of it in deference to the councilman of the district.”

Then he said, “But if you want me involved, I will get involved.  You may not like my solution, but you will get a solution.  Did you hear me today [referring to his successes with transportation improvements]?  I get things done.”

“When you stop believing that I am in anyway interfering with enforcement in Venice, then come see me and I’ll get involved,” he said.  I told him that we very much would like him to get involved and provide the leadership that both of us feel is lacking.  He told me to call his office to set up the meeting.

For the next day or two I debated whether I should confront my friend Bill about the Mayor’s claim that Bill was pushing for prosecution of a political statement (that is fully protected by the 1st Amendment).  Eventually, I did share the Mayor’s story with Bill and he absolutely denied it.  Then, as he told me later, he called the Mayor and asked the Mayor directly if he had told me that Bill wanted me prosecuted.  Bill said that the Mayor admitted talking with me but denied telling me Bill had pushed him to instigate prosecution.

So, who is lying?

I did follow up with the Mayor’s scheduling secretary and his Westside deputy, Joe Hari and Deputy Mayor Larry Frank, who lives in Venice.  At first, Hari disputed that I had actually spoken to the Mayor.  He went so far as to call the staff who was with the Mayor at Paramount and then called me back to, basically, call me a liar, because the Mayor’s handlers reported that that no one had a substantive discussion with the Mayor before or after his speech at Paramount.  Hari was a bit sheepish when I told him that I spoke to the Mayor at Mozza, not Paramount.

A day or so later I sent another email asking for a reply to my request for a date for the meeting with the Mayor.  Eventually Hari called me and said that there would not be a meeting.  I said that the Mayor had clearly agreed to meet with representatives of our group on the public safety situation in Venice.  Hari said that it wasn’t going to happen.  So, I said that I intended to blog that the Mayor’s staff had interceded and told the Mayor that he shouldn’t meet with us, against the Mayor’s own commitment.  The call ended.  A few minutes later Hari called me back and said that my request for a meeting was in process.  I asked that the Mayor’s scheduler call me to confirm that the meeting was being calendared.  He said he would have her call.  She hasn’t called.

I’ll leave you with the Mayor’s parting comments at Mozza:  “You know, when I leave office, I’m going to move to either Venice or the Pacific Palisades, so I have a personal interest in helping you with this.”

Posted by Mark Ryavec, President, VSA

Please Ask Rosendahl to Enforce City Ordinances

Dear VSA Supporter:

As you are undoubtedly aware, the City of Los Angeles, under City Councilman Rosendahl's authority, is permitting large encampments of transients to exist at several locations in Venice.  We know from past experience that within these populations are some individuals who are prone to intimidation of residents, assaults, violence, drug sales and use, stabbings, burglary and even murder.  We also believe that the City, the County and various social service agencies and non-profits organizations are currently woefully incapable of enticing those living in these camps to accept services, housing or assistance of any kind that would remove this threat from our neighborhoods in a timely manner.

Thus we ask that you print out the following letter onto your stationery and send it to Councilman Rosendahl with copies to Mayor Villaraigosa, Chief Charles Beck and Captain Jon Peters by first class mail.  Should you prefer to communicate electronically, their email addresses are also provided below.

Thank you for helping to make our community safer.

Mark Ryavec

President, Venice Stakeholders Association

P.S.  Please forward this message to your neighbors and friends in Venice.


Councilman Bill Rosendahl
City Hall
200 North Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA  90012

Dear Councilman Rosendahl:

I respectfully ask that you immediately order the LAPD to enforce existing laws against sitting, lying and sleeping on public property between 6 AM and 9 PM, on occupying public property without a permit, obstructing the public way, obstructing ADA access, and storing personal possessions on public property.  I also ask that you immediately introduce an amendment to the Boardwalk Vending ordinance to remove the spaces for public feeding programs.

You are currently playing Russian roulette with the citizens of Venice.  

Within the encampments you are allowing to exist and grow on 3rd Avenue, in the Farmers Market parking lot and elsewhere in Venice are individuals who are mentally ill, addicted to various drugs, and those prone to violence.  The assault on a young couple on April 14^th by several campers living on 3^rd Avenue and the stabbing at the Farmers Market parking lot on April 21^st underscore the violent element living in these encampments.  It was not a coincidence that Boneetio Washington, who raped and murdered pregnant Eun Kang on Electric Avenue, routinely visited a public feeding program in Venice.  The feeding stations, which serve no purpose in helping these individuals leave the street life, are a magnet and an enabler.  The unsupervised encampments, in violation of several City ordinances, also enable these individuals to continue their life on the street and are a magnet for more transients to settle in Venice, which puts violence prone individuals close to our homes and families. 

On April 18, 2012, Mayor Villaraigosa told VSA president Mark Ryavec that you control whether the LAPD cites the violations of the Municipal Code concerning occupation of public space in your district and that his office has taken a hands-off approach in deference to the prerogatives of the Councilman of the district.

Please exercise your clear authority to remove these dangerous encampments from our neighborhood.

Sincerely,



cc:    Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
        City Hall
        200 North Spring Street
        Los Angeles, CA  90012

        Charles Beck, Chief of Police
        Los Angeles Police Department
        100 West 1st Street
        Los Angeles, CA 90012

        Captain Jon Peters
        Commander, Pacific Division
        Los Angeles Police Department
        12312 Culver Boulevard
        Los Angeles, CA  90066

Councilman Bill Rosendahl <Billrosendahl@aol.com>
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa c/o <Larry.Frank@lacity.org>
Police Chief Charlie <Charlie.Beck@lapd.lacity.org>
Captain Jon Peters <jon.peters@lapd.lacity.org>

Westside Guide to Safe Camping Locations for the Homeless

 Dear Homeless Advocate: The Venice Stakeholders Association is preparing to publish a camping guide for distribution to homeless individuals in Venice, including those living on the sidewalks and parkways along 3rd Avenue between Rose and Sunset Avenues in Venice. The guide will provide Venice homeless with locations of sidewalk/parkway locations where they will be more welcome to camp out than the 3rd Avenue location. The residents and property owners in this area find this encampment, with its related crime, assaults on police officers and residents (one as recent as this past Saturday evening), public drug sales and use, public inebriation, public urination and defecation, and threat to public health, to be intolerable. We will continue to press the City of Los Angeles for the removal of this encampment, including bringing a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles for maintaining a public nuisance if necessary. Our camping guide will provide these Venice homeless individuals with locations of sidewalk/parkway locations where they will be more welcome to camp out than the 3rd Avenue location. In light of your vigorous support for the rights of the homeless to sleep on public pedestrian easements over private property, which is what sidewalks and parkways legally are, we are contacting you to ask if you have any objection to our including a photograph and address of your residence in camping guide. On the following page are the addresses we would like to publish in our guide. We intend to incentivize these individuals to take advantage of your welcoming spirit by offering them $20 per day to relocate. Please advise me at your earliest convenience of whether you object to being included in the guide and if the address listed is correct. Yours truly, Mark Ryavec President


Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (Official Residence): 605 S. Irving, Los Angeles CA 90005

Councilman Bill Rosendahl:  3715 Wasatch Ave., Mar Vista (Los Angeles) CA 90066

Deputy Mayor Larry Frank: 2110 Walnut, Venice CA 90291

Carol Sobel: 860 23rd Street, Santa Monica, CA 90403, CA

Nicolas Goldberg: 111 S. Norton Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90004

Los Angeles Times: 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012

Linda Lucks: (address and photo removed at the request of Ms. Lucks)

David Ewing: 1234 Preston Ave., Venice CA 90291

Steve Clare: 733-739 Palms Blvd., Venice, CA 90291

Karen Wolfe: (address and photo removed at the request of Ms. Wolfe)

Debra Lashever: (address and photo removed at the request of Ms. Lashever)

Ferris Wheel Effects on Parking, Traffic and Views

The Venice Stakeholders Association has called for the City of Los Angeles to perform a full Environmental Impact Report on the proposal to place a 200 foot Ferris wheel in the Venice Beach Recreation Area at the foot of Windward Avenue.

“The parking, traffic and scenic impacts of the Ferris Wheel installation are highly problematic for our neighborhood,” said Mark Ryavec, VSA president. “Oddly, the firm proposing the Wheel has offered no mitigation.”

In a letter to City Recreation and Parks officials, the VSA’s attorney, John Henning, notes that the Wheel could draw up to 16,320 visitors per day, based upon the capacity of the Wheel given at a recent public hearing by a representative of Great City Attractions, the firm proposing the installation.

“The Ferris wheel would operate 12 hours per day, 7 days per week, from 10 AM to 10 PM,” Henning wrote. “It contains approximately 40 “capsules” in which riders would sit, and there are 8 seats per capsule, for a total of approximately 320 riders when fully loaded. Each cycle (i.e., “ride”) of the Ferris wheel lasts about 14 minutes, so there would be approximately 51 cycles per day, for a total of 16,320 individual riders per day.”

Henning also points out that unlike a restaurant, which turns over its seating every 60 to 90 minutes, the Wheel will turn over its seats every 14 minutes, so the Wheel will generate four to six times has many visitors clamoring for a ride….and seeking non-existent parking.

A restaurant of that size would be required to provide 80 parking spaces under the Venice Local Coastal Specific Plan, the City land-use ordinance that governs development in Venice. Great City Attractions has offered no parking or traffic mitigation.

“We’re asking the City to apply to itself the same land-use rules that it would apply to any other new development of this size in our neighborhood,” Ryavec said.

Attachment: Letter to LA City Recreation and Parks Department

Great Observation Wheel

City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks

Re: Great Observation Wheel

Dear Sirs and Madams:

Your department has solicited community views on a proposal to allow the installation,
for a temporary period, of a 200 foot Ferris wheel, known as the Great Observation
Wheel, at the foot of Windward Avenue in the Venice Beach Recreation Area.

The Venice Stakeholders Association is a non-profit organization committed to civic
improvement. While many would be delighted to ride a Ferris wheel at the proposed
location and to enjoy the stunning views which it will make available, we have serious
concerns about the project, principally related to the parking demand and increased traffic
that will result from this installation.

We would ask that this project be viewed as an opportunity for the City of Los Angeles to
seriously reconsider its policy regarding any and all events and installations in the Venice
Beach Recreation Area. For example, the filming of the Ninja Warrior Challenge this
last week took over much of the park from south of Windward Avenue almost to Market
Street. Our members report that public parking on Windward on Saturday and Sunday,
while filming was underway, was completely taken up by 7:30 AM by visitor vehicles in
the 200 block of Windward. This resulted in residents who do not have on-site parking
being held hostage in their homes or running the risk of having to park many blocks away
from their homes if they gave up their street parking spaces on Windward during the day.

The Wheel proposal is a good reason for the City of Los Angeles to apply to the
Coastal Commission for preferential 24/7 permit parking for beach adjacent residents
and to craft an ordinance to require that all events and installations in the Venice Beach
Recreation Area pay in-lieu parking fees to a dedicated Venice parking fund, which is
immune to being “swept” by the City Council for non-parking purposes or use outside of
Venice, to the end of creating parking structures of modest height in Venice.

Thank you for your consideration of our views.

Sincerely,

Mark Ryavec

Mark Ryavec, President

cc: Mayor Antonia Villaraigosa, Councilman Bill Rosendahl

Petition to stop closure of Venice Post Office

The Venice Stakeholders Asssociation, Mark Ryavec and others have filed a petition today in the D.C. Circuit to stop the closure of the Venice Main Post Office.

VNC to Oppose Enforcement of Ban on Camping on OFW

Please Attend this Meeting and Voice Your Support for the Beach Curfew to End the Cesspool of Drugs, Alcohol, Public Inebriation, Intimidation and Late Night Noise along Ocean Front Walk

(Venice, CA/01-19-12)  The leadership of the Venice Neighborhood Council has convened a meeting to allow its allies to voice their opposition to enforcement of the existing City Beach Curfew.  This comes upon the heels of the City’s posting of signs that spell out the 12-5AM curfew and the determination of the City Attorney and LAPD to enforce it.

The Venice Neighborhood Council's Neighborhood Committee will hear from City representatives and residents about the newly posted rules that close Ocean Front Walk and the beach and grassy areas from 12 to 5AM. The meeting will be held Monday, January 23rd, at approximately 8:00PM, in the Oakwood Park Recreation Center, 767 California (enter from 7th Avenue).

The Neighborhood Committee is not elected from the various neighborhoods that comprise Venice, but are appointed by VNC president Linda Lucks.  As such, they represent Ms. Lucks views on Venice, not the broad majority of residents who have filed numerous complaints about the intolerable situation we all see on the Boardwalk.  The current population living on the Boardwalk and the park areas deprive the residents and visitors of their right to safely enjoy this public space.  The City is long overdue in taking the steps seen in nearby cities such as Santa Monica to stop camping in public parks.

Much of the crime in Venice, from car break-ins and home invasions to burglaries and vandalism, has its start in the lawless attitudes of those who live on Ocean Front Walk and the population of criminals and drug users/dealers that they attract to Venice.  Tell the VNC that you want it to stop.

Those residents who want to see the police follow-through on enforcement of the curfew should come to the meeting and speak up for enforcement.  We will need a good turn out to show the LAPD and Council Office that the majority of Venetians favor enforcement.