Help Promote Safe Construction

MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Thanks to your involvement, we are almost at the finish line but need one more show of support to get the Hillside Construction Regulations applied to our community.

The city's Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) committee is scheduled to hear the motion adding our area to the HCR on May 16, and the City Council is scheduled to hear it on May 26. We need to let them know we want it passed.

Our Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, which includes all residential properties within the Mt Washington/Glassell Park Specific Plan area, needs the reasonable construction regulations contained in the HCR to accommodate and safeguard our fragile hillside infrastructure.

Here is what the HCR will do to increase hillside construction safety and improve the quality of life for all surrounding neighbors:

*Limit haul route trips to no more than four per hour and only one truck on the hill at a time.

*Truck convoys must be staged outside the HCR area until called in, one at a time.

*Limit haul operations to Monday-Friday between 9:00am and 3:00pm.

*Limit construction hours to Monday-Friday from 8:00am to 6:00pm, on Saturdays only interior work is allowed, and no work on Sundays.

*No exterior lighting after 6:00pm

*Dust must be controlled

*No grading or hauling on windy days or Red Flag days.

*Streets must be cleaned at the end of each workday.

*Flagpersons are required to assist all trucks along with signs posted 300’ in either direction from the site when roads will be blocked by construction work or vehicles.

*Limit the maximum amount of grading and import/export of dirt

*Require notification to residents of haul route and demolition activities.

*Post the regulations with contact information for the pertinent City departments regarding questions or complaints

To support safer hillside construction and improve our quality of life for residents in the Mt Washington/Glassell Park Specific Plan and the Northeast community, HERE IS WHAT WE NEED TO DO:

· Submit emails/letters/photographs in support of the HCR by going to the City case file at: https://cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkconnect/index.cfm?fa=ccfi.viewrecord&cfnumber=16-1472-S7. On this page, click at the top where it says "new" and follow the instructions to submit your public comment. You can share your own experiences as examples of why the HCR is needed—and include photos if you have some--or you can simply ask that the Planning and Land Use Management committee and the City Council pass the HCR to protect the health and safety of our hillside very high fire risk community and its fragile infrastructure.

· Send a copy to CD1 Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez Councilmember.Hernandez@lacity.org, CD1 Planning Deputy Helen Campbell helen.campbell@lacity.org, and CD1 District Director Jose Rodriguez jose.a.rodriguez@lacity.org to let them know we appreciate their support in getting the HCR passed and applied to our community.

· If possible, plan to attend the hearings and visibly show your support—they are no longer via ZOOM, but only in person. We will provide details as they are made known.

TWO ACTION ITEMS:

We want to make sure that this provision stays in the HCR Amendment:

The HCR amendment as drafted includes a provision requiring the posting of a sign which would help neighbors know who to contact with questions or concerns. This “enforcement information” posting, like a public service announcement, informs and educates the public about the health and safety issues, and it is important that this provision remain in the HCR amendment.

The PSA provision is written in LAMC section 13.20 D(6)(j):

1. A sign shall be placed at the project site, at a location that is viewable from the adjacent public right-of-way, that provides contact information for City enforcement entities related to the following topics: blocked roadways, construction noise or hours of operation, grading activities, and tree removals.

This is a provision we would like to see modified:

The current language of the existing HCR (LAMC 13.20 D(7) ) is based on the 2017 original language applied to areas such as Bel Air. It requires a Site Plan Review (a more detailed review for compliance with size, parking, height and other factors) for one family homes that have a cumulative residential floor area of 17,500 square feet in those west side communities protected under the original HCR. While this size may be an appropriate threshold for other areas of the city, it is not logical for our area. Data compiled for the last two years shows that, with one anomaly, new home sizes in our community range from 892 square feet to 3,871 square feet, with a median size of 2,478 square feet. We propose that LAMC 13.20 D(7) be changed to have a 4,000 square foot threshold for our area and the other northeast communities.

Multiple construction trucks blocking roads