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In this issue: Notes from the President |
| NOTES FROM THE PRESIDENT Gerry Hans |
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“Hats-off ” to those residents, volunteers and board members that contributed their time and efforts in exchange for many fruitful results for our neighborhood in 2005! For 2006, your Oaks Homeowners Association has initiated an ambitious agenda. We need your support and encouragement to see our agenda through! The article by Boardmember Bob Young in this newsletter highlights one of our key projects, protecting the character of our neighborhood by encouraging compatible development. We are solidly committed to this goal! There are also other serious tasks currently on our plate: 1. Finalizing plans and beginning the fundraising for the Bronson/Canyon Circle, a gateway to The Oaks. 2. Finding an alternative easement for residents wanting to walk from Green Oak Drive to the Park, a stretch that is currently blocked by a construction fence. 3. Participating in the current controversy of the 25 year draft Griffith Park Master Plan through representation on the Master Plan Working Group. 4. Participating in the planning for the reopening of the Griffith Observatory through representation on the Visitor Access Study Committee. 5. Addressing traffic safety concerns, in particular, the need for 4-way stop signs at one or two intersections, and the hazardous Mayfair/Victor’s Square area. 6. Establishing and re-establishing of Neighborhood Watch Groups. 7. Monitoring of the new “Red Flag” no parking limitations, as well as reviewing regular no-parking zones on our narrow, hilly streets. And of course, we want to continue our social events, such as the Annual Summer Picnic, the Halloween Walk, and our Fern Dell Clean-ups (yes, that’s social, too!) Besides having our core Oaks Board Members, the Association has decided to create a Oaks Resource Committee. Already we have volunteers to serve in undertaking special tasks, such as helping with particular social events and providing us with legal expertise. If you can bring any of your special talents to the table, please let us know! We have a place for you. This time of year, we begin our campaign for Oaks Membership. Most of the money that we collect goes to the newsletter, liability insurance, social events, and web site maintenance. As a reminder, you can now pay for your membership on-line at OaksHome.org. |
| Membership Holly Purcell, Membership Director |
As you all know from our December early mailing and the February reminder letter, the 2006 Oaks Membership drive is on! We received several calls from members who were confused about how whether payments made in 2005 cover dues for 2006. To clear things up, we thought you might want to know how we do it. Late each year we send out membership envelopes so Oaks residents can pay for the coming year. Our long-term members send in their checks in January. Some of us need a reminder, so we now send reminder letters out at the beginning of February to make sure you know we need your support. We then remind people at every function we see you at during the year. So, what happens is that some people pay at the Annual Meeting, or the Summer Picnic, or The Holiday Party. No matter what date you pay, that membership fee covers the year it was paid in. So, if you paid at last years picnic, then you paid your 2005 membership dues and your 2006 membership dues are now due. Hope this clears everything up. While we're talking here, let me know if you have any ideas for fun activities to add to our slate for 2006. Wine tasting? Santa Anita race track outing? Trip to the Getty? |
Specific Planning For The Oaks’ Future |
Oaks Homeowners Association has been hearing from a lot of you in the last two years about the proliferation of building projects in our neighborhood. Residents have told us they’re concerned not only about the sheer number of construction sites and future projects but about the large size and scope of the houses being built. Some of the new homes – usually spec houses built by developers – seem designed to be as large and imposing as possible so as to impress real estate investors. And the question we hear most often from long-time residents confronting these large building projects is: Is anyone from the City taking a look at these? To a certain extent the city is watching. New houses must conform to the generous outlines of the City’s building codes. However, traditionally, requests by developers for variances in order to build higher or wider or larger than code are granted routinely by the Zoning Commission. The reason is simple: it’s strongly in the City’s interest for as many new houses to be built and for each of those houses to be as large and as expensive as possible. A new house generates much more property tax revenue than an empty lot or an old house, and a very large new house generates more tax revenue than a moderately sized new house. The City needs revenues badly and there is substantial pressure on those downtown with oversight for new construction to green-light as many projects as possible. The City’s planning and zoning departments are also chronically understaffed so that the sort of careful oversight of building projects all of us hope would be done is not really possible. And the necessary follow-up to make sure a builder really does what he promised he’d do doesn’t always happen. So if the City is neither interested nor capable of making sure that development in the Oaks enhances the character of our neighborhood, who can look after our interests? Well, we can. Or at least we can try. Up until now, when a project has come along that seemed out of character with the neighborhood, residents have usually heard about it just as grading permit and building permit hearings were about to occur. Residents would scurry to find out the details of the project and then there’d be a disorganized scramble to find out what other neighbors thought and to figure out whether there was anything unusual about the project. Neighbors tended to show up in a hit or miss fashion for the hearings and inexpertly voice their concerns. These “civilian” objections to development were usually looked on with kindly impatience by zoning officials downtown before being politely overruled. This unsatisfactory process has resulted in a great deal of frustration and anger among Oaks residents who have the feeling that long-time homeowners’ opinions are being shunted aside in the City’s zeal to hasten development. It seems to us that what might work better is a formal structure whereby we in the Oaks could be told about new projects in a timely manner and be sure that we’d have the chance to talk to developers before the bulldozers arrive. Many surrounding neighborhoods have just such a system. It’s called a Specific plan, and it sets up a Board, composed of residents with expertise in building-related fields which reviews new development projects to make sure they’re compatible with the existing neighborhood. The goal of a review boards is simply to afford the neighborhood an opportunity to sit down with the developer and talk over the developer’s plan. The goal is interaction. The Specific Plan in nearby Hollywoodland (upper Beachwood Canyon) has been working effectively since 1989. Their plan goes into a great deal of detail about not only size but style of houses that can be built. We don’t need a plan as comprehensive as that. But we would like to set up guidelines about lot coverage, setbacks, retaining walls, parking spaces and grading on steep hillsides that ensure that new houses built in the Oaks fit with our neighborhood. The benefits of a Specific Plan are many. The Plan makes it clear both to residents and to developers what the guidelines are – if you follow the guidelines, the neighborhood is supportive of your project. This means developers can sit down with us in a civilized manner, show us their plans, hear from us how to make sure the project fits well with the homes around it, and then go off and build. It eliminates the open warfare that erupts every time a new project is announced and neighbors worry that someone is trying to pull a fast one. It reduces the criticism the City takes from residents every time an out-of-scale project hurts the neighborhood. It shows the City that we in the Oaks want to be constructive partners in the development process. And finally, a Specific Plan protects the integrity of the Oaks. It preserves the character of the neighborhood, the landscape and the treescape. It protects property values by ensuring compatible development into the future. In the next weeks and months we’ll be scheduling meetings to talk with you about whether you’d like to see a Specific Plan for the Oaks. Any Specific Plan we adopt would be crafted by us (and approved by the City), and it would contain those things that we feel are important, and it wouldn’t contain anything we feel we should stay out of. We hope you’ll join us in the process. Bob Young is an Oaks Board Member |
| Current Developments In The Oaks |
| Several developments in the Oaks have been brought to the attention of the Homeowner's Association recently. Among these is a four lot construction on very steep terrain on Live Oak Drive East. Numerous concerned Oaks residents turned up for the Hauling Hearing on February 14th where the Building and Safety Commission placed the issuance of the hauling permit "IN ABEYANCE, PENDING ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW" by the City's Department of Planning. This is a huge first step in ensuring that this development complies with CEQA (State environmental law) and all City laws and procedures. Another new development to note is the construction of a single home at the end of Green Oak Drive, blocking what many Oaks residents have been enjoying as park access for the past 50 years. |
Cassandra Petersen |
Cassandra Petersen’s life has been more exciting than yours or mine. If you’re feeling competitive on that point, I’ll give you a story that probably isn’t even in her top ten. Get your very best story ready, and then we’ll compare notes. Okay, when Cassandra was a teenager in Kansas, she attended a rock concert. It being the late sixties, it was no surprise that a tear gas canister eventually hit her in the head. She was treated for tear gas burns in the first aid tent and, on the way back, walked past a trailer. A man at the door asked if she wanted to meet one of the performers. Fifteen year old Cassandra said sure and spent the next hour talking to the performer, who asked if he could call her later. He did, but he was under the influence of something that made his attempts at speech, shall we say, difficult. Cassandra’s mimic of his voice on this night sounded vaguely like when grown ups talk on the Peanuts TV specials. So, they never saw one another again. Oh, and it was Jimi Hendrix. Who was your story about? Seeing Ron Cey at the Mayfair Market? Petting Minnie Driver’s dog in Bronson Canyon? Well, those are swell stories, but they don’t match, say, getting career advice from Elvis. Read on. A few years after Jimi Hendrix experience (yes, that was on purpose) Cassandra, who saw Viva Las Vegas and loved it, became a Las Vegas show girl. She was seventeen. She performed at the Dunes hotel in a troupe named Viva Les Girls. You people who studied French might quibble with the name, but you never met Elvis and Viva Les Girls did. In fact, all Les girls were invited back to the Memphis Mafia’s playhouse at the International Hilton in Las Vegas one night. They stayed up late talking with Elvis, Sonny, Red, and all the boys. At some point, Elvis became the King of Self Help, by encouraging Cassandra to think of herself as more than just a dancer. In fact, he made her sing and, right then and there, declared that her future was in singing. The next day she took singing lessons and in a matter of months parlayed these new skills into a performing gig at Les Follies Bergeres in Paris. Not the Vegas version of Paris—the French (classy) one. Well, we have to make an abrupt transition now because we’re running out of space, and I haven’t even told you that Cassandra Petersen is none other than Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. And there’s so much to cover between meeting Elvis, and becoming Elvira (and by the way, I think these are the only two names that start with E-L-V-I, which is neat). Some highlights include performances on Love Boat, and a stint as a stripper on Happy Days. However, in the interest of not hogging all the space in the newsletter, we should probably fast forward to the Elvira part. In 1981, Cassandra had been working as an actress, but had not yet had the “big break.” Then, while on her honeymoon, she received a call that KHJ (now KCAL), located at Gower and Melrose, was looking for a “sexy comedienne” to host a late night horror show. Nothing looks better on a resume in this situation than being able to say you played a stripper (sexy) on Happy Days (comedienne), so it’s no wonder Cassandra got the part. When it came time to create her look, she relied on a friend who had helped Ronnie Spector and the Ronnettes with their hair. This friend put together a stylish black wig, and they borrowed some make up ideas from Japanese Kabuki performers and, combined with Cassandra’s knack for dressing demurely, Voila—Elvira was born!!! Elvira’s success brought Cassandra’s family to the Oaks, where she lived, at several different addresses, for almost 25 years. Her one geographic indiscretion was a year spent in Brentwood shortly after her daughter was born. Once she realized just how lame living in Brentwood can be, she scampered back to the Oaks. Over the years, Cassandra has had a long and rewarding relationship with both Elvira and the Oaks. Her Elvira legacy includes years of Elvira’s movie program, guest appearances on other television shows, movies, commercials books, and even a Halloween song with the band Sonic Youth. Her lasting legacy to the Oaks will probably be the flood control work she finally convinced the City of Los Angeles to begin after years of water damage on lower Valley Oak. She credits Tom LaBonge and Rory Fitzpatrick for finally getting this work under way. However, I give all the credit to Elvis. |
www.oakshome.org |
Did you know that this very newsletter is also available online on the Internet? The Oaks home page at www.oakshome.org has the current and past issues, as well as much, much more. Right on the front page you'll find the latest news items about developments with a direct impact on our neighborhood. Elsewhere on the site we post all minutes of the monthly Oaks board meetings. There is also a full page with very useful City of L.A. phone numbers, as well as links to other web sites pertinent to our neighborhood. The "Boardmembers" page lists phone numbers and email addresses for the entire board; and under "Where we are" there are detailed maps of the Oaks. The "Oaks News" section is a collection of recent and older front page news items; and the "Calendar" page lists upcoming events around the Oaks. Very conveniently, the "Membership/Join" page allows you to join the Oaks Homeowners Association and to even pay your annual dues securely right there with your credit card. This also goes for renewing your membership. Speaking of your membership dues: our web site, in comparison with this newsletter, is much more cheaply produced, and news can be published a lot more quickly on the web. Recently, we have had about 20 visitors to the site each day, but most people seem not to go beyond the front page. I hope, now that you know about all the other things on our site, that you will give it a closer look, at www.oakshome.org. Even better, let me me know how you like the Oaks web pages either at 323 957 0668, or at rainer.standke@oakshome.org. Rainer Standke is the Oaks webmaster |
| Update on 4-Home Development on Live Oak East Rainer Standke & Gerry Hans |
Native oak, walnut, elderberry, and toyon flourish on four very steep lots on Live Oak East. It was largely assumed that these substandard sized lots would always remain undeveloped, but perhaps not at the prices to which real estate has risen lately! Still, the safety of building on such steep lots remains in question, especially in earthquake zones. The Haul Route Hearing was held on Tuesday, February 14th, for the approval of a route to remove some 15,000 cubic yards of earth. Why Hauling Route Hearings occur prior to other aspects of a development being approved remains a mystery. Before the City of Los Angeles Board of Building and Safety Commissioners, the staff recommendation was that the board hold the application in abeyance and the project be passed off to the Planning Department for an environmental review. A time-frame for this review was unclear. The Commissioners voted and agreed, which is a very favorable outcome. The main sticking point seemed to be the presence of the oak trees, even though there are many more issues that the environmental review will need to answer. By this action it seems that Board is agreeing that California’s Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) applies to this project. This is good news. More than twenty Oaks residents attended the hearing, and their presence was critical. It was important for the LADBS (the City Department for Building and Safety), Council member LaBonge’s office, and the developer’s representatives to see that there is broad opposition to the development, and that it is organized. The goal is to force the City to make sure this development complies with CEQA (State environmental law) and all City laws and procedures. Our neighborhood owes thanks to the “Oaks Alliance”, a group of residents that are funding the legal aspects of the opposition. If anyone would like to financially support their initiative, please contact Wayne Schlock, at bluepointarch@aol.com. |
| Fern Dell Clean-Up |
Our Fern Dell Clean up project will be on April 8th, 9 am to noon. With the help of our Park Rangers, the Oaks-sponsored "FERN DELL CLEAN-UP" removed graffiti and repainted about 20 Fern Dell benches and 12 concrete trash receptacles one Saturday morning this past fall. Tagged rocks, fence posts, bridges, and sprinkler pipes were also restored. Again we'd like to supplement the work that is provided by Recs & Park maintenance staff. Join us on April 8th. High school community service points are available for students who help with this project.
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| A Great Teacher Is Never Forgotten Debbie Aldahl |
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would like to mark the passing of a remarkable woman, a treasured teacher, a gifted colleague and a beloved friend, who touched hundreds of lives in a positive way with her generous spirit and kind heart.
Linda Attarian was an exemplary educator and dedicated professional who taught each grade level at Cheremoya Elementary School during a 20 year span. She was a master teacher in the USC Teacher Credentialing Program, a valued supervising teacher in the Teach America Program and she was a mentor to me and many others.
Ms. Attarian was one of those rare teachers who touched the hearts, as well as the minds, of all those who met her. She believed that every child could learn and she spent her life proving it. I celebrate and applaud the life and career of this local heroine. Ms. Attarian will be missed and many will never forget her. |
The Neighborhood Beat |
| JAN 20 - APR 2: Otis College of Art and Design, Nine Decades of Los Angeles Art |
Thursday - Sunday 12-5pm
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| MARCH 13: Oaks Homeowners’ Association Annual Meeting |
7pm in the Immaculate Heart High School Cafeteria, Western Ave., parking lot entrance. Join us for our annual meeting to discuss the state of The Oaks as well as hear from guest speakers, Tom LaBonge, The Griffith Park Observatory ReOpening Team, The Barnsdall Art Park Foundation Board. Among our featured speakers will be Camille Lombardo, Friends of the Observatory and Linda Barth, Recreation and Parks. Telescope to view the evening sky will be set up on the patio.
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| APRIL 18: Oaks Night at Vermont Restaurant |
6pm-10pm, 1714 N. Vermont Ave. in Los Feliz If you have not yet attended this event, you are really missing out on a good time! This is the time when the neighborhood gets together for dinner to be served by a wait staff made up of members of The Oaks HOA. There are always good stories to tell. Last year, it was how the power went out in the neighborhood and only the restaurant guests were safe and dry with light. Where were you? Join us for good food, good company, and a bit of comedy! Make sure to call for your reservation, 323-661-6163.
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| APR 28 - JUNE 11: COLA Exhibit at Barnsdall Art Park |
PARENTS |
Please be sure to check the Megan's Law web site to make yourself |
| Need a house-sitter... |
... or a caretaker or help with an elderly relative? Our dear neighbor and long-time Oaks resident, Margaret Clausen passed away in 2005. Her caretaker of over 30 years is now looking for new work in the neighborhood. If you need help or know of someone who could employ an experienced home-worker, please call Holly at 323-671-1267. Thanks!! |
