The Menlo Property was approved for 120 market rate condo units between Fletcher and the River Glen Apartments in 2010. Grading is expected to take 212 working days.
Showing posts with label Menlo Property. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Menlo Property. Show all posts
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Riverside & Fletcher: Sightseeing
The Menlo Property was approved for 120 market rate condo units between Fletcher and the River Glen Apartments in 2010. Grading is expected to take 212 working days.
Friday, September 27, 2013
LA River: Rally For The River, Saturday September 28, 2013
River advocates & local politicians are rallying behind Alternative 20 to restore the LA River. However, the Army Corps of Engineers is recommending the far less expensive Alternative 13.
Saturday September 28, 2013
10 AM
Marsh Street Park, LA River
Links:
City of Los Angeles: www.lariver.org
Friends of LA River: www.folar.org
Deadline for public comment is November 5, 2013. A series of public meetings will be held in October. See www.lariver.org for updates on public meetings & more information.
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Historic Fletcher Viaduct: Circa 1904*
Photo: Ralph Morris, circa 1904. Red Car Trolley crossing the Fletcher Viaduct looking north on Riverside Drive. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
I've been talking about the Pacific Electric Fletcher Viaduct a lot lately, so thought it was a good time to run one of the first photos of the historic viaduct. It was over 453' long and originally, 41' high.
The viaduct's center section was replaced with steel in 1927 and was then over 60' high, allowing for the paving of Fletcher Drive. The last day of service on the Glendale Line was June 19, 1955. The viaduct was not dismantled until 1959.
The viaduct footings were declared a Los Angeles City Historic Cultural Monument in 2003.
*This post is a rerun. It was originally published Sept 18, 2012.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
LA River: Odd Duck, Posing Cormorants, Little Dinosaur
Photo: Diane Edwardson, January 9, 2013. If the duck has fleshy red welts on its face; it's a Muscovy Duck. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
Photo: Diane Edwardson, January 9, 2013. A flock of Cormorants was taking the sun in the middle of the river.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, January 9, 2013. They basked near the remnants of the sad clown girl graffiti on the west river bank, below the Sam Menlo-owned RiverGlen Apartments.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, January 9, 2013. If you're lucky, you can see a Great Blue Heron take off in their ungainly way.
Photo: Diane Edwardson. It appears to take great effort for these large birds to get airborne.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, January 9, 2013. Even flying low over the reeds, Great Blue Heron just seem like Pterodactyls.
Earlier this week, we took a walk from Atwater to the Red Car Property via the LA River. We've been publishing photos that caught our eye en route.
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Historic Fletcher Viaduct: 1904-2008*
Photo: Ralph Morris. Fletcher Viaduct looking north on Riverside Drive. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
Different sources date the above photo at any year between 1904, when the viaduct was constructed, to 1914. The house sits on the current site of Home Restaurant, formerly Rudolpho's. In the 1950's, Currie's Ice Cream Shop occupied the location. The hillside in the background is Waverly Drive. The viaduct was over 453 feet long and over 40 feet high. Learn more about the Glendale Line on The Electric Railway Historical Association's website.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 22, 2008. Riverside Drive, matches photo above. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
*This post was originally published August 22, 2008.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Historic Fletcher Viaduct: Circa 1904
Photo: Ralph Morris, circa 1904. Red Car Trolley crossing the Fletcher Viaduct looking north on Riverside Drive. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
I've been talking about the Pacific Electric Fletcher Viaduct a lot lately, so thought it was a good time to run one of the first photos of the historic viaduct. It was over 453' long and originally, 41' high.
The viaduct's center section was replaced with steel in 1927 and was then over 60' high, allowing for the paving of Fletcher Drive. The last day of service on the Glendale Line was June 19, 1955. The viaduct was not dismantled until 1959.
The viaduct footings were declared a Los Angeles City Historic Cultural Monument in 2003.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Menlo Property: 212+ Grading Days*
Photo: Clarence Inman Collection, circa 1987. Grading for the Riverglen Apartments on Riverside Drive. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
According to the conditions of approval for 120 condos on the Menlo Property, developers estimate exporting 63,500 cubic yards of earth, a total of 20 trips per day for a duration of 212 days. That's just the export. They'll be digging out the entire slope and building giant retaining walls.
Developers couldn't understand why the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council Urban Design & Preservation Advisory Committee insisted on grading activities only occurring Monday through Friday. It's going to take years to build this turkey.
Ten months is probably a conservative estimate on the export. The estimated 6 month slope stabilization on the Menlo Property took 18 months starting in 2001. Good times ahead.
*This post was originally published May 20, 2010. Once a week, we're reviewing area construction projects, with an eye toward air quality and health risk effects from the onslaught of development in our community, already besieged with Diesel Particulate Matter from the 2 & 5 Freeways and the Metrolink Rail Yard.
Read more about the Menlo Property, shockingly, up for sale:
The Eastsider
Related:
Menlo Property: Pattern of Neglect
Menlo Property: Political No-Man's Land
All our Menlo Property posts
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Air Quality Issues: Construction Sites
Photo: Jerome Courshon, March 9, 2012. (Click on photo to enlarge.) The DWP has moved onto Rockeby from Glendale Blvd. They're digging just a few feet from homes and businesses, without dust screening on the nearby construction fence. Neighbors are complaining of inadequate wetting of the site and lose dirt blowing in the wind.
Why are we talking about dust? Particulate Matter, specifically PM10 & PM2.5, is so small, you can't see it without a microscope. They are smaller than the width of a human hair. PM10 and especially PM2.5 get down deep in your lungs and stay there, causing damage that can lead to variety of health problems ranging from sore throat and increased allergies to asthma, COPD, heart problems, chronic bronchitis, premature birth, premature death and cancer.
Children are at even greater risk, since their lungs are not fully developed. Similarly, the elderly and those with pre-existing heart or lung problems are at increased risk too.
People who live or work within 1000' of a major source of Diesel Particulate Matter (freeways and rail yards) are at even greater risk since our baseline exposure has made us more susceptible to increases in exposure, like from construction.
During the environmental review process, special attention to PM10 & PM2.5 is supposed to occur when a site is within 1000 feet of a school. Ivanhoe Elementary is within 1000 feet of the DWP project, Coffee Table site, (plus another condo development a few doors from the Coffee Table site), Monte Sano, Menlo Property and the 5 Freeway.
When the Coffee Table site developers came to the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council, the Urban Design & Preservation Advisory Committee warned City Planning of the potential cumulative impacts from not only traffic, but short term construction effects on air quality. UD&PAC pointed out the proximity of Ivanhoe Elementary. No extraordinary mitigations were required by City Planning. Although the DWP is supposed to be monitoring their PM, but no one seems to enforce their violations of AQMD's Rule 403.
PM10 & PM2.5 are supposed to be mitigated by specific measures on construction sites. The City standard conditions for approval include measures like twice a day wetting of lose dirt, which is insufficient for "fugitive dust" control. Truck loads of earth as well as the piles of loose dirt are supposed to be covered to prevent "fugitive dust." Many neighbors asked me about this when they saw the DWP failing to cover their truckloads before leaving the site.
The only construction site where I ever observed really good dust control was the construction of the mini-mall on Glendale Blvd at Glenhurst in Atwater, where they used constant wetting during grading activities.
Developers and the City fail to understand how deadly routine exposure to particulate matter is. Even short term effects from construction cause health problems. Just by knocking on doors, neighbors near the Glendale Blvd & Waverly DWP construction found at least 30 neighbors experiencing increased health problems since the DWP started work in December September 2011.
If you live near the work in the vicinity of Glendale & Waverly, neighbors are organizing to deal with the DWP, Monte Sano and the other area construction issues.*
This is why no one likes to write about health effects of particulate matter and what can be done about the issue. It's complex and does not easily condense. And when you live next to a freeway or rail yard - do you really want to know how bad it is for you?
Recommended reading from the California Air Resources Board: Air Quality and Land Use Handbook: A Community Health Perspective
*2015 Contact information removed by request.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Glendale Blvd & Riverside Drive: Reopening Soon
Photo: Diane Edwardson, March 13, 2012. The DWP sent out an email that Glendale Blvd would reopen, Friday March 23, 2012. They'll now close Rockeby "part time" between Glendale & Rowena for another 3 months. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
Neighbors say they've already moved the work onto Rockeby. DWP is holding their quarterly update meeting at Fire Station 56, 4:30 PM, March 29, 2012.
Read more: The Eastsider
Friday, March 16, 2012
Neighborhood Air Quality Issues On The Rise
Photo: Futterer, Holyland Exhibition, 1960. Grading for the 2 Freeway involved moving a lot of earth, as seen from the Holyland Exhibition at the corner of Allesandro Way & Lake View Ave. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
It's been 50+ years since our neighborhood has seen anywhere near the amount of earth moving we'll be in for if all the projects approved in recent years break ground (some already have): Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract, Monte Sano, DWP projects, Menlo Property, Coffee Table site, Bert Co site, 2 Freeway Terminus and Taylor Yard. Now there are rumors of a complete tear-down/rebuild of the Ralph's shopping center on Glendale Blvd.
Several years ago, the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council's Urban Design & Preservation Advisory Committee and Silver Lake Improvement Association kept bringing up the cumulative effects, including serious health effects, of all these projects in the pipeline, but City Planning failed to acknowledge them.
1960 - 1962 our neighborhood saw earth moving on an unimaginable scale: 2 Freeway, 5 Freeway and Dodger Stadium dramatically changed the neighborhood's landscape. 50 years ago, no one knew just how all that unmitigated dust would effect our health.
Over the past 10 years, a significant volume of research has confirmed the health risks of living near freeways and rail yards - sources of diesel particulate matter. There is no shortage of studies confirming the risks, including heart disease, COPD, asthma, chronic bronchitis, cancer, premature death, premature birth and low birth weight.
Health risks to children are particularly high, since their lungs are still developing. The elderly and those with chronic heart & lung problems are at greater risk of premature death.
People who live close to sources of diesel particulate matter are more susceptible to increased levels of particulate matter that come with construction sites. To simplify, it's microscopic, you can't see it or smell it and it can kill you.
So, we will look at air quality issues at least once a week as they relate to neighborhood projects.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Community Meeting, Monday, Sept. 12, 2011: City Revising Retaining Wall Ordinance
Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 1, 2007. The giant retaining walls on the Menlo Property (Riverside Drive north of Fletcher) are the result of several failed developments. (Click on photo to enlarge.)It's bad news for the community when a development plan calls for massive cut & fill development requiring giant retaining walls. The Red Car Property neighborhood has a long history of failed development.
The City is revising its retaining wall ordinance and holding a series of community meetings to solicit community input on retaining wall issues. While City Planning says everyone is welcome, be prepared to see lots of developer's consultants using city planning jargon and intimidating neighbors who have to live with their clients' future failed developments.
Retaining Wall Ordinance Public Meeting
Eastside Meeting
Monday September 12, 2011
6:30 PM
3750 Verdugo Road
Los Angeles, CA 90065
Info: David Olivo
Dept of City Planning
(213)473-9763
Friday, June 17, 2011
Menlo Property: Jesus Has Seen Better Days
Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 16, 2011. Jesus appeared on the Menlo Property earlier this year. In the past couple of months, graffiti vandals have retaken the Menlo Property retaining walls. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 16, 2011. Apparently, Sam Menlo & Century Quality Management aren't in a hurry to build the condo development approved last year. Clean & Green and Hollywood Beautification Team (sent by City Council District 4 to paint out graffiti and pick up trash on the Menlo Property) stopped painting over the graffiti quickly, once the window closed to file lawsuits over the development approvals. 
Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 16, 2011. Walls on adjacent properties, directly above the Menlo Property, are vandalized because Menlo fails to maintain his property.
The Menlo Property is looking like a big broken window again.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Monte Sano: Last Trolley Stop Before Crossing Riverside Drive & The LA River
Photo: Unknown photographer, early 1900s, from the Ayers Family archive. The Red Car Trolley bridge over the LA River at Glendale Blvd. The Monte Sano Station is adjacent to the viaduct over Riverside Drive in the foreground. The photo was shot from (what would be, as of 1923) Monte Sano Hospital at Waverly & Glendale Blvd.
Photo: Ira Swett, undated. The river was already lined with cement at the Hyperion Bridge in the background. Shot from the Monte Sano Trolley stop. The Trolley is about to cross the Riverside Drive Viaduct, before crossing the LA River. (Click on photo to enlarge.) The Riverside Drive Viaduct was dismantled in June 1959, four years after the last Red Car crossed the LA River.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 25, 2009. The Sam Menlo-owned, 157-unit, Riverglen Apartments sit atop the old Monte Sano Red Car Trolley stop. You can still see the Hyperion Bridge trolley footings in LA River. (Click on photo to enlarge.) See many more before & after photos of the Pacific Electric Glendale Line tomorrow, May 12, 2011, 7 PM. Red Car historian Paul Ayers will give a free presentation at the Glendale Public Library.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
I Saw Jesus On The Menlo Property
Photo: Diane Edwardson, March 23, 2011. He's still there today. Happy Easter. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Menlo Property: Business As Usual
Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 10, 2010. Now that the Menlo Property has been approved for 120 units, we'll see how quickly it becomes a dumping ground again. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
Money talks. Lots of big name consultants helped convicted slumlord, Sam Menlo & Century Quality Management defeat the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy's (SMMC) appeal of City Planning's approval of 120 condo units on the Menlo Property.
Last night, many community members spoke in support of the SMMC appeal for a trail easement on the Menlo Property per the Community Plan. Three of the five East Los Angeles Planning Commission members (Lopez, Nagao, Angulo) voted to deny the SMMC's appeal. The other two commissioners took off before our hearing began.
The decision came after City Planning Director Gail Goldberg extolled the virtues and the sanctity of Community Plans to the commission. She too left before our agenda item came up.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 10, 2010. Interesting, how this graffiti showed up just upslope of the dumping this morning. It was not there yesterday. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
Keep in mind, Menlo was once approved to build 93 units and failed to build on the property. Menlo allowed the property to become the biggest nuisance property in Silver Lake. So, many remain skeptical we'll see anything built there, anytime soon.
If they do break ground, we can look forward to 212+ days of grading, as they dig out the entire hillside to build even more retaining walls for the 120 condos. That is, if they don't abandon the project, as has happened on this site in the 1980s.
The Red Car Property has a trail the community has used for decades. CD13 has expressed continued support for a trail on the Red Car Property, between the 2 Freeway and Fletcher, as a vital link to the LA River.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Menlo Property: Appeal Hearing Today
Photo: Diane Edwardson, March 3, 2009. Public staircases and sidewalks connect the Waverly & Locksley neighborhoods with the LA River, Menlo Property and the Red Car Property. (Click on photo to enlarge.)The East Los Angeles Planing Commission will hear the appeal filed by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy of the approval of the Site Plan Review of the 120 condo units approved for the Menlo Property and Zone Variance for the existing Sam Menlo-owned, 157 unit River Glen Apartments. While City Council's PLUM Committee denied the appeal on the Vesting Tentative Tract, there is still the opportunity for the Planning Commission to make changes to the site plan to accommodate a trail easement per the Community Plan.
East Los Angeles Planning Commission Hearing
Today, June 9, 2010
4:30 PM
Ramona Hall Community Center
4580 Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, CA 90065
Click here for agenda
Case # ZA-2009-0534-ZV-SPR-1A
2600-2850 Riverside Drive, aka The Menlo Property
Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 6, 2009. Drainage to the street and tree-planted medians haven't exactly been addressed in the site plan review. (Click on photo to enlarge). Read more about the Legacy of Failed Development in our neighborhood.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Waverly - Fletcher Public Staircase
Photo: Diane Edwardson, December 29, 2009. The public staircase behind HOME Restaurant leads to Waverly and Locksley. (Click on photo to enlarge.)The Waverly Public Staircase between Waverly and Fletcher includes a tour past the Pacific Electric Viaduct Footings. There once was an enormous all wood trestle bridge spanning Fletcher. In 1927, they replaced the center section of the viaduct with steel to accommodate the paving of Fletcher Drive. Click here for all our historic viaduct photos.
When the DWP chopped down all the trees last December, we discovered the Waverly side (above) of the viaduct had different footings than the Red Car Property side of the viaduct. Considering the giant retaining walls that went into slope stabilization on the adjacent Menlo Property, this should surprise no one.
We're celebrating the Red Car Neighborhood's public staircases in conjunction with The Big Parade II. For more info and routes of the 2-day, 100+ public staircase hike on June 12 & 13, 2010, see: www.bigparadela.com.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Menlo Property: Another Appeal Hearing June 9, 2010
Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 14, 2009. The Menlo Property extends upslope from the upper retaining wall. (Click on photo to enlarge.)The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy is appealing the Site Plan Review for the 120 condos and Zone Variance for the existing River Glen Apartments. Changes can still be made to the site plan with regard to inclusion of a trail per the Community Plan.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
4:30 PM
East Los Angeles Planning Commission
Ramona Hall Community Center
4580 Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, CA 90065
Click here for agenda
Case # ZA-2009-0534-ZV-SPR-1A
for 2600-2850 Riverside Drive
aka: The Menlo Property
Public Staircase Destroyed in 1987
Photo: Clarence Inman Collection, circa 1987. Public staircase from Riverside Drive to the Monte Sano Red Car Trolley stop. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
Since we're looking at public staircases in anticipation of The Big Parade II, it's a good time to mourn the loss of another public staircase. Today, the River Glen Apartments sit where this public staircase led from Riverside Drive, up to the Monte Sano Red Car Trolley stop.
The Red Car Trolley tracks were removed shortly after the Glendale Line was decommissioned in 1955. The viaduct crossing Riverside Drive, en route to the LA River, was removed in 1959.
For many years, a portion of the site remained flattish with a gradual grade change from the higher elevation at Fletcher. The site was used much like the Red Car Property is today, as a trail, until 1987, when grading began for the River Glen Apartments.
Until recently, the property was a political no-man's land.
Convicted slumlord, Sam Menlo bought the site in 1992 and proceeded to neglect it for many, many years. Now he wants to build 120 condos on the vacant portion of the property. Another appeal of approvals related to the 120 condos is being heard by the East Los Angles Planning Commission, June 9, 2010.
The Big Parade II is a 2-day, 100+ public staircase hike on June 12 & 13, 2010: www.bigparadela.com.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Red Car Property: Tales of Trail Demise Are Greatly Exaggerated
Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 2004. Red Car Property (south of Fletcher) includes City Historic Landmark #770, Pacific Electric Red Car Viaduct Footings. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
NOTE: ALL PHOTOS IN THIS POST ARE OF THE RED CAR PROPERTY, SOUTH OF FLETCHER, NOT OF THE MENLO PROPERTY. Click here for map.
I received a forwarded email with, "We've lost the Red Car Trail" in the subject line. So I felt it necessary to clarify the two parts of the "Red Car Trail" to readers who may not be aware of the different portions of the Red Car Trail corridor through our Silver Lake neighborhood.
The email was from Friends of Griffith Park, who supported the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy's (SMMC) appeal of the 120-unit condo development on the Menlo Property (north of Fletcher), for failure to include a trail per the Community Plan. We spent much of the last few weeks talking about the Menlo Property on this blog.
Friends of Griffith Park referred to the Menlo Property as the "Red Car Trail." Long-time community activists remember when the trail corridor was chosen by community leaders because the old Red Car right-of-way made a good trail through the community.
JUST TO BE CLEAR: We have NOT lost the trail on the Red Car Property, south of Fletcher to the 2 Freeway at Corralitas Drive - yet. We have lost the trail north of Fletcher, on the Menlo Property.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 19, 2009. The Big Parade toured part of the Red Car Property between Adelbert and the historic viaduct footings. (Click on photo to enlarge.) Both the Menlo Property and the (Corralitas) Red Car Property are part of the El Pueblo Trail. Both properties were in the Pacific Electric Red Car Trolley right-of-way for the Glendale Line. Both properties were connected by the Fletcher Viaduct.
Last week, the City Council denied the SMMC's appeal for the Menlo Property. (There is still another appeal pending for related approvals on the Menlo Property, at the East Area Planning Commission on June 9, 2010.)
Photo: Diane Edwardson, March 20, 2010. Red Car Canyon shows what 50 years of growth can add to a park-like setting. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
The Red Car Property (south of Fletcher) is also private property. Since 1955, the community has used it as a trail. CD13 continues to support our efforts in creating a public trail on the Red Car Property between Corralitas Drive and Fletcher, as it links a large part of the neighborhood to the LA River and eventually the 18-Acre Elysian Park Parcel. There is also potential to connect via a bike trail to the planned park at the 2 Freeway Terminus. Plus, the trail on the Red Car Property stands alone as a well-used recreational resource.
Between 1955 and 1987, the Menlo Property was used similarly as a trail. However, the history of neglect of the Menlo Property prevented all but wildlife from making full use of the trail corridor since 1987. (The Menlo Property is currently in CD4.)
Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 24, 2009. The Red Car Property meadow at Corralitas Drive and the 2 Freeway. (Click on photo to enlarge.)The Red Car Property and the Corralitas Red Car Property are the same piece of land. For decades, developers only wanted to develop the southern end of the Red Car Property at Corralitas Drive. It was often referred to as the "Corralitas Property." Once we learned of the history of the neighborhood, we rebranded it as the Corralitas Red Car Property.
Corralitas Drive is still the easiest access to the property for people driving to it. If you're on foot, the neighborhood connects via sidewalks and public staircases at numerous places along the mile-long property.
See also: The Legacy of Failed Development
