📃 March 2023 News from the Bel Air-Beverly Crest Neighborhood Council

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TEN IMPORTANT COMMUNITY STORIES
YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT
FOR MARCH

Vote in Neighborhood Council Elections

Attempt Made to Preserve Senderos Canyon (also known as Hoag Canyon)

Council Supports Enforcement of Short Term Rental Ordinance in Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones (VHFHSZs)

Council Supports Preservation of Mature Trees

Council Withholds Support of Venice Improvement Project

Planning for Sepulveda Basin

What Artificial Intelligence Says About Neighborhood Council Elections

Scrapbook: Holmby Hills

Pet Adoption Opportunities

Scroll Down for Details

Upcoming Bel Air - Beverly Crest Neighborhood Council Elections
Get Your Vote-By-Mail Ballots now!

Election Day for 11 of the 36 seats on the BABCNC is:
Sunday, March 26, 2023.

HOW TO VOTE:
You can vote in person or by mail-in ballot. For either one you will need to bring/submit proof that you live, work, or own property within the BABCNC, or participate in a community organization that has its address within the BABCNC. For a map of the BABCNC area click HERE .

IN PERSON VOTING

When: March 26, 2023 ONLY, from 11am to 2pm
Where:
Harvard-Westlake School
700 N. Faring Rd
Los Angeles, CA 90077

VOTE BY MAIL

Unlike general elections, mail in ballots will NOT be sent to you automatically - you must apply for a mail-in ballot by March 7, 2023. You can apply for a Vote-By-Mail ballot online or by filling out a paper application:

· Online Vote-By-Mail Application – Click HERE

· Vote-By-Mail Paper Application (Multilingual) – Click HERE

o Instructions for filling out the Vote-By Mail Application – Click HERE

· Neighborhood Council Elections FAQs – Click HERE

WHO CAN VOTE:
Generally, if you are 16 years of age or older, and you live, work, or own property within the BABCNC boundaries, or participate in a community organization that has its physical address within the BABCNC boundaries, you are eligible to vote for candidates for the following seats (for a map of the BABCNC area click HERE

Commercial or Office Enterprise Districts – 1 seat
At-Large Community Interest Stakeholder – 1 seat
Public Educational Institutions – 1 seat
At-Large Traditional Stakeholder – 2 seats
At-Large Youth Representative – 1 seat

You are ALSO eligible to vote for the following seats if you are 16 years of age or older and live, work and/or own property, within the boundaries of the following neighborhood districts, or participate in a community organization within the
boundaries of these BABCNC neighborhoods

Residential District Representatives:
- Bel-Air Glen District (1 Seat)
- Franklin - Coldwater District (1 seat)
- North of Sunset District (3 seats)

Learn more about the seats, the Candidates, and details regarding who is eligible to vote for each seat click HERE

*************************************************
An additional 21 BABCNC seats are elected/appointed at various times of the year directly by most of the Homeowners Associations or Neighborhood Associations that comprise the BABCNC area. Contact your Association for more information on being a future candidate or voting for the current seats.

             BABCNC VOTES TO SUPPORT
                   THE PRESERVATION OF
                HOAG/SENDEROS CANYON

Senderos/Hoag Canyon: Looking North, the 405 is on the left and Stone Canyon Reservoir is on the right

Senderos Canyon, commonly referred to as Hoag Canyon, is an ecologically important, pristine canyon surrounded by the communities of Bel Air, Bel Air Hills, Bel Air Crest and Casiano Estates. A rugged 263 acre parcel in the heart of the Canyon is currently being marketed for sale for development through an auction that will close on March 15^th. The marketers of the property have renamed it Senderos Canyon.

The Senderos Canyon parcel is an unparalleled example of natural habitat in West Los Angeles, including a perennial stream vital to the area’s wildlife and the most significant oak-sycamore riparian woodland in the Santa Monica Mountains east of Topanga Creek. Senderos/Hoag Canyon is bordered by other large parcels of pubic land and managed by The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and the Mountains Recreations and Conservation Authority .

In addition to numerous sensitive plant and animal species, the Senderos Canyon parcel is home to Southern California black walnut, a rare and keystone species in two sensitive natural communities, as well as an array of large mammals such as bobcat, mule deer, mountain lion, and grey fox. Importantly, the canyon also provides life-sustaining ecosystem services including but not limited to carbon storage, control of floods/debris flows, and reduction of heat island effects.

Lush green winter view of Hoag/Senderos Canyon untouched by development, next to the 405 Freeway

You can view drone footage of the Canyon, taken by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy (SMMC). Here is a link to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wuuztzskh4.

The SMMC has issued a staff report which contains additional information on Senderos/Hoag Canyon, which can be viewed here:
https://smmc.civicweb.net/document/13446/Consideration%20of%20resolution%20recognizing%20the%20sig.pdf?handle=F63570A282244E599145073BE1A7AFCF

On February 3^rd, Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky introduced a motion directing the Recreation and Parks Department to report back on the available strategies to preserve the Senderos/Hoag Canyon property and work with the City Administrative Officer to identify various options for funding to purchase the property, including potential County, State, and Federal funding sources. The motion was adopted by the City Council on February 17^th. You can view Councilmember Yaroslavsky’s motion here : https://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2023/23-0129_misc_2-3-23.pdf

On February 22^nd, the BABCNC voted unanimously to support and submit a Community Impact Statement supporting the motion in CF #23-0129 to pursue strategies to preserve Senderos/Hoag Canyon and for funding sources to be identified. Out of concern for the damage to sensitive ecological habitat that any facilities or trails would necessarily entail in this rugged pristine canyon, and the increased fire risk, the BABCNC motion of support added the direction that the property be kept undeveloped, with no facilities, and not have public access.

Patricia Templeton

STORM: Lookout Mountain Road

NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL SUPPORTS ENFORCEMENT
OF SHORT TERM RENTAL ORDINANCE

The Board of the BABCNC at the February meeting voted to write a letter to the Home Sharing staff in the Planning Department requesting that Planning enforce Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone rules in the Short-Term Rental Ordinance.

Crews at work on Queens Road, restoring power to much of the North of Sunset hillside.

NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL SUPPORTS
PRESERVTION OF MATURE TREES

Root systems of mature trees often push against City sidewalks. Too often the solution to this situation is to remove a beautiful fully grown tree. There are alternative techniques to repair sidewalks while saving these trees.

The Bel Air-Beverly Crest Neighborhood Council voted to support a motion by Councilman John S Lee of the 12^th District. The motion directs the Bureau of Street Services, in coordination with the Urban Forestry Division and the City Forest Officer, to report back on sustainable solutions and best practices to sidewalk repairs, implemented by other cities, that preserve a City's mature street trees while ensuring safe sidewalks.

STORM: Landslide onto the road on Bellagio near Carcassonne

NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL WITHHOLDS SUPPORT
OF VENICE IMPROVEMENT PROJECT

The BABCNC, a member of the Westside Regional Alliance of Councils, is concerned that removing one vehicle lane in each direction on Venice Blvd. between Inglewood Blvd. and National Blvd. will divert traffic onto adjacent local, collector and arterial streets. Until such time as LADOT conducts modeling studies to predict the volume of vehicular traffic that will be diverted off Venice Blvd. when the road diet component of this project is installed, the BABCNC has voted to withhold its support for Phase One of the Venice Blvd. Mobility Improvements Project in support of surrounding Neighborhood Councils.

STORM Trees down on Stone Canyon, near Sunset.

View from Mulholland Drive: Snow-capped mountains
seen past palm trees across the San Fernando Valley
Photo: Robert Mann

NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL VOTES TO SUPPORT
RAMAN MOTION ON PLANNING FOR SEPULVEDA BASIN

At the Neighborhood Council Board meeting Wednesday February 12, the Council voted to support Councilwoman Raman’s motion 23-0105 requesting that planning for the Sepulveda Basin be based on previously vetted and adopted plans, such as that by The River Project, in a way that improves access, allows for geomorphological function, facilitates groundwater recharge and floodwater retention, and prioritizes these principles in any use of the Sepulveda Basin for the 2028 Olympics.

Wildflowers in Laurel Canyon. Photo: Jamie Hall

RODENTICIDES POSE A SERIOUS DANGER TO WILDLIFE

In the morning hours of December 13, 2022, a Benedict Canyon resident found a dead young bobcat lying in the street on Wanda Park. Just 10 hours earlier, this bobcat was seen alive in the same spot, hiding beneath a car. The bobcat appeared emaciated, but there were no signs of external trauma. The decision was made to send the carcass to the lab at UC Davis for a necropsy.

On January 17, 2023, the final results were delivered – it showed that Diphacinone, a first generation anticoagulant, was present in the liver tissue. Diphacinone is a less potent anticoagulant that is associated with a slow, debilitating death sentence.
In 2020 Governor Newsom signed state bill AB1788, which became law on January 1, 2021. AB1788 banned the use of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs). Diphacinone, however, belongs to a group of first-generation anticoagulants (FGARs), which are still widely used and readily available for consumer purchase.

Now there is hope that FGARs might also be banned in California. Last week the Board of Supervisors voted on a motion to ban FAGRs in order to honor the legacy of P22.

The board is also directing county departments to stop using FGARs on all county-owned and managed properties and to phase out their usage throughout the unincorporated county regions. It is their hope that this ban on pesticides will help prevent the deaths of P22’s fellow Southern California mountain lions.

Sadly, this bobcat, nor P22, were not isolated incidents of rodenticide exposure. In California, exposure to rodenticide has been found in at least 16 species of birds, and 13 species of mammals, including the federally endangered San Joaquin kit fox.

Studies of wild animals in California have found that nearly 75% test positive for rodenticide exposure. In habitat that is close to urban areas, percentages can be even higher.

In addition to having a deleterious effect on wildlife, evidence shows that rodenticides have a counterproductive effect on pest control because they undermine the food web system – specifically the predator/prey relationship. These poisons end up killing the very animals that we rely upon as predators of rodents (e.g., birds of prey, coyotes and bobcats.

Ultimately, the best way to protect wildlife is to use non-chemical methods.

The life of the young bobcat might have been spared if these methods had been used to control rodents instead of rodenticide.

Keep your home and yard neat and clean.
Keep tree branches and vegetation at least a foot away from home and roof.
Seal any holes on your home and roof where rodents can gain entry.
Be aware that pet food, chicken feed and bird feeders will attract rodents.
Remove objects and plants that rodents can hide under such as wood piles, debris, construction waste, dense vegetation and ground-covering vines like ivy.
Pick up fruit that has fallen from trees as soon as possible.
Secure your garbage in a tightly sealed can.
Seal water leaks and remove standing water that may attract unwelcome animals.
Use electric rat traps as a non-toxic method of rodent removal.
Set up a barn owl box on your property or in your community – just one barn owl can consume over 3,000 rodents a year!

Mindy Rothstein Mann

                   WHAT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SAYS ABOUT
   NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL ELECTIONS

We asked Chap GPT, a computer program using Artificial Intelligence, to write a short post about the importance of voting

in Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Elections. Here is its first try which took approximately 20 seconds:

"Voting in Los Angeles Neighborhood Council elections is crucial for ensuring that the voices and needs of community members are heard and represented. These councils, made up of volunteer members who live or work within a specific neighborhood, serve as a direct link between residents and the city government. They provide a platform for community members to share their concerns, ideas, and feedback with elected officials and city staff, and have a significant impact on decision-making that affects the quality of life in their neighborhoods.

One of the most important roles of neighborhood councils is to provide input and recommendations on land use and development, including zoning, building codes, and transportation projects. These councils also play a key role in community engagement and outreach, organizing events and programs that bring residents together and foster a sense of community.

Participating in neighborhood council elections gives residents the opportunity to elect individuals who will represent their interests and advocate for their needs. By voting, community members can ensure that the council is made up of individuals who are committed to making a positive impact in their neighborhood and are responsive to the needs and concerns of residents.

Additionally, it is also an opportunity for community members to raise their voice and advocate for the issues they care about, such as affordable housing, public safety, and environmental protection.

In conclusion, voting in Los Angeles Neighborhood Council elections is essential for ensuring that the voices and needs of community members are heard and represented. It gives residents the opportunity to elect individuals who will represent their interests and advocate for their needs, and provides a platform for community members to share their concerns, ideas, and feedback with elected officials and city staff. So, if you live or work in Los Angeles, make sure to exercise your right to vote in your neighborhood council elections."

Patricia Templeton

SCRAPBOOK:
The history of our Bel Air-Beverly Crest Neighborhood Council communities and those communities around us

Arthur Letts Sr., founder of the Broadway Department stores, purchased 400 acres from William Wolfskill for a high-end development of homes. He named the project Holmby Hills, reflecting the name of his birthplace, Holdenby, Engand. Sadly, Letts passed away in 1923 and never saw the completed project. It was taken over by his son-in-law, Harold Janss who, with his brother Edwin, also developed Westwood.

Andre Stojka

Adopt, Don’t Shop! Visit West Los Angeles Animal Shelter

Consider adopting one of the wonderful animals at our local animal shelter!

The City's shelters are suffering from extreme overcrowding and hundreds of beautiful animals desperately need new homes -- dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, turtles, chickens, and more.

If you can’t adopt, consider volunteering, fostering an animal for a period of time, or providing items from the shelter’s Wish Lists. Every bit helps!

Visit the Shelter
Tuesdays and Thursdays 8 a.m.—5 p.m.
Saturdays and Sundays 11 a.m.—5 p.m.

West Los Angeles Animal Shelter
11361 W Pico Blvd (just west of the 405)
Los Angeles, CA 90064
Phone (310) 207-3156
https://www.laanimalservices.com/shelters/west-los-angeles/

Volunteer: https://www.laanimalservices.com/volunteer/
Foster: https://www.laanimalservices.com/volunteer/foster-program/

THE LOS ANGELES NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL SYSTEM

Because of the size of Los Angeles, each Los Angeles City Council member represents around 250,000 people. To keep City officials in closer touch with the neighborhoods of the City, in 1999 Los Angeles adopted a Neighborhood Council system to advise the City Council members of local issues.

There are 99 separate Neighborhood Councils in the City of Los Angeles. Members of the Neighborhood Council are considered City employees without compensation of any kind. They are formally elected by the public or communities and must live, work or own property in the area they represent.

The Bel Air-Beverly Crest Neighborhood Council represents approximately 28,000 people in a beautiful mountain and canyon area of the City of Los Angeles bounded on the West by Sepulveda Boulevard, on the North, Mulholland Drive, on the South by Sunset Boulevard and the East by Laurel Canyon. All Board and Committee meetings are open to the public.

Laurel Canyon
one of our Bel Air-Beverly Crest Neighborhood Council communities

The Bel Air-Beverly Crest Neighborhood Council Community News is published by the Bel Air-Beverly Crest Neighborhood Council Outreach Committee:
Robin Greenberg, Mindy Rothstein Mann, Nickie Miner,
Robert Schlesinger, Maureen Smith, Patricia Templeton
Andre Stojka, Newsletter Editor and Outreach Chair
BABCNC President: Travis Longcore, Ph.D.
Newsletter (c) 2023 Bel Air-Beverly Crest Neighborhood Council
Scrapbook (c) 2023 Andre Stojka
Photo Credits: Shutterstock, Mitch Gizik, Aaron Kamin, Jean-Mark Harrouin, Bel Air Association, Wikipedia, Jamie Hall, Mindy Rothstein Mann, Robert Mann
Your comments are solicited and appreciated.
Please contact us at: outreach@babcnc.org

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Bel Air/Beverly Crest Neighborhood Council · PO Box 252007 · Los Angeles, CA 90025 · USA