Monte Sano: Why Wouldn't You Want To Live Next Door To A Major Construction Site?

Photo: Diane Edwardson, February 9, 2012.  Neighbors of the old Monte Sano Hospital Site at Waverly & Glendale Blvd are learning first hand what excavating more than 46,300 cubic yards of earth means to their health (and wealth as apartment dwellers move out).  (Click on photo to enlarge.) 

Read more: Los Feliz Ledger

See also our posts from:

March 23, 2012

March 25, 2012

All our air quality related posts

Monte Sano: Community Meeting Wednesday, May 23, 2012, 7PM

Photo: Jerome Courshon, February 2, 2012.  The old Monte Sano Hospital site is destined for condos.  The grading plan (when the project was approved) involved removing 35' off the top of the hill.  So much for the "Hill of Health" as Monte Sano Hospital & Sanitarium once boasted.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Community Meeting

to discuss Monte Sano, currently called "Waverly Terrace" 

plans & mitigations

hosted by CD4

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

7PM

Citibank Community Room

2450 Glendale Blvd

City Councilmember Tom LaBonge (CD4) arranged a community meeting, despite the fact that Monte Sano will be in CD13 as of July 2012.  Let's hope someone invited CD13, or you can expect a lot of feigned ignorance of conditions for approval, once construction begins from CD13.

Of course it will be difficult for most Monte Sano neighbors to get to the meeting since it's not exactly walking distance and driving the Glendale Blvd corridor is difficult, thanks to the DWP.

See also: The Eastsider

From this blog: Air Quality Issues: Construction Sites

Legacy of Failed Development

Monte Sano Red Car Stop: Another Staircase You Won't Be Taking On The Big Parade Today

Photo: Paul Ayers, summer 1987.  The Big Parade won't be taking the Monte Sano Red Car Trolley Stop staircase, because it was demolished in 1987 to make way for the RiverGlen Apartments on Riverside Drive, near Glendale Blvd.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

However, The Big Parade will be highlighting other historic public staircases and sites throughout Silver Lake today.  There's still time to join The Big Parade for a few staircases or a couple hours: http://bigparadela.com/

Follow along with The Big Parade's live Twitter feed:

http://twitter.com/#!/bigparadela

Monte Sano: Neighbors Hoping Developer Provides Required Dust Control

Photo: Jerome Courshon, February 5, 2012.  Grading began and stopped in February as the grading permits expired for the 63 units at Monte Sano.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

According to the previously approved and now lapsed grading permits, they plan the following earth moving:

CUT: 46,300 Cubic Yards

FILL: 5,930 Cubic Yards

IMPORT: 40,370 Cubic Yards

Photo: Diane Edwardson, February 9, 2012.  An apartment building on Waverly is right next to the old Monte Sano Hospital site.  That's a whole lot of dirt to move right next door in a neighborhood that's already burdened by months of DWP construction.

What's missing in these photos?  Dust screening material on the chain link fence.  It may not seem like much, but it does help keep some of dirt contained.  It is the very least a developer can do.  

When we had several homes under construction on different parts of my street, the one with dust screening had less dirt in the street than the other 3 unscreened sites. With every car driving by, the dust (particulate matter) becomes airborne and ends up deep in your lungs.   

More on the dangers of Particulate Matter (PM10 & PM2.5) tomorrow Sunday.

Monte Sano is one of the large problem lots in the Legacy of Failed Development in our neighborhood.

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

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.

  

Glendale Blvd: DWP Project's Particulate Matter Causing Health Problems For Neighbors

Photo: Diane Edwardson, February 9, 2012.  After months of the DWP failing to control the particulate matter while working the River Supply Conduit has the DWP taken some measures to control the airborne particulate matter.  Neighbors say it's not enough. Read more in the LA Times. (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Photo: Jerome Courshon, February 25, 2012.  Inadequate covering of dirt piles does not keep the dirt from blowing in the wind.   

We'll talk more about the dangers of particulate matter over the week ahead.  Communities are becoming more aware of the serious health risks involved with construction sites, freeways and rail yards.  Neighbors are demanding accountability from developers, AQMD, City Planning, Building & Safety, DWP, Metrolink and elected officials. 

Monte Sano: Trees Gone

Photo: Diane Edwardson, February 9, 2012.  I leave town for 2 weeks and trees are clear cut, everywhere.  I was shocked to cross the bridge on Glendale Blvd and see all the trees missing from Monte Sano. (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Monte Sano was approved for 60 condos back before the City's Protected Native Tree Ordinance was signed into law in 2006.   Prior to that approval, the owner had already cut down the Coast Live Oak Trees on the former Monte Sano Hosital site, a charter member of the area's Legacy of Failed Development.  Another developer recently updated plans for the site. (Or, they're just cutting down trees to appear to be moving forward so they don't lose their entitlements while they look for another speculator to sell the turkey to.)

Photo: Diane Edwardson, February 9, 2012.  From the opposite side of Glendale Blvd and Waverly, it's equally sad.  Since Monte Sano is in the coveted Ivanhoe School District, it may actually be developed this time.   Although they do appear to be taking advantage of the Glendale Blvd road closure for the LA River Supply Conduit Improvement Project (which now may last through April).

Glendale Blvd at Riverside Drive: Closing "Soon"

Expect more traffic headaches as the DWP will close Glendale Blvd between Waverly and Riverside Drive starting in September 2011 for work on the River Supply Conduit Improvement project. (Click on image to enlarge.) 

The notice Mary Olmos of the DWP sent out to Silver Lake community leaders stated, "Currently, the updated schedule for the start of the Glendale Blvd. closure is postponed from August, 2011 to sometime in September, 2011.  The closure is expected to last for at least 6 months."

  

Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 30, 2011.  Signs went up on Riverside Drive recently warning of the closure.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 30, 2011.  However, the sign only indicates 4 months of closure, giving us false hope for a speedy completion.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Glendale Blvd and Riverside Drive was once the site of the Monte Sano Red Car Trolley Stop.

Sort of related: Clarence Inman Collection

Monte Sano Public Staircase: 1987

Photo: Paul Ayers, Summer 1987.  The Monte Sano Red Car Trolley stop was left to decay for more than 30 years after the last Pacific Electric Red Car Trolley made the trip from Downtown to Glendale in 1955.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

The Riverside Viaduct at Monte Sano as well as the Fletcher Viaduct were both dismantled in 1959.

Photo: Paul Ayers, Summer 1987.  Developers were about to break ground on the 157-unit Riverglen Apartments at Riverside Drive & Glendale Blvd.  Red Car enthusiasts were grabbing their cameras to document the some of last ruins of the Glendale Line. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Click here for all our Monte Sano related posts.

We're looking at the Red Car Property Neighborhood's public staircases leading up to The Big Parade on May 21 & 22, 2011. The Big Parade is a FREE 2 day, 35 mile, 100+ public staircase hike from Downtown Los Angeles to the Hollywood Sign. Join The Big Parade for a few staircases, miles or both days. Info: www.bigparadela.com.

 

LA River: Red Car Trolleys Crossed Wildlands

Photo: Unknown Photographer, circa 1904-1906 (when the Glendale Line first opened).  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Last week, Red Car Historian Paul Ayers shared photos of our neighborhood from his archives with me.  I asked if he'd ever seen the LA River bridge photo from around 1904, shot at grade from Monte Sano, where nothing but chaparral surrounds the Red Car bridge, with Griffith Park in the background. I'd seen this photo about 10 years ago, but had not seen it since.  Ayers almost immediately sent me this photo. 

It is one of my favorite shots of the Glendale Line, and I can't believe the LA River advocates don't use this shot constantly. 

The Red Car Trolley Glendale Line crossed the LA River at what's now the Hyperion Bridge.  It looks like the trolley bridge came well before the motor vehicle bridge seen in yesterday's post.

1927 LA River Flood 

Photo: Unknown Photographer, 1927.  The 1927 LA River flood washed out a number of bridges, including this one, which appears to be the auto bridge at Glendale Blvd, as seen from the Atwater side.  The Red Car Trolley bridge is on the left.   (Click on photo to enlarge.) 

I had never seen this photo before, so it was indeed a bonus from Ayers.  Again, we'd like to thank Red Car Historian Paul Ayers for sharing archives with us.  He's got a lot more photos than the ones we published this week. 

If you want to see more, attend the Glendale Historical Society sponsored "Ride the Red Cars to Glendale" 7PM, tonight at the Glendale Public Library.     

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. 

Click here for all our Monte Sano related posts. 

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.

Menlo Property: Public Hearing Follow-up

Photo: Diane Edwardson, December 22, 2009. Sam Menlo-owned River Glen Apts sit atop the old Monte Sano Red Car Trolley Stop on Riverside Drive near Glendale Blvd. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

The City Planning Advisory Agency expects to make a decision on the Menlo Property in a few weeks. More developer's consultants than neighbors seemed to be present at today's hearing.

Due to other commitments, I'm unable to go into more detail at this time. I will do a follow-up post in the next few days. Your patience is appreciated as I spent too many hours in City Hall today and I don't get paid to do this stuff.

Monte Sano: Another Episode in the Legacy of Failed Development

Photo: Clarence Inman Collection, January 1985. The Monte Sano Hospital site at the corner of Waverly Drive & Glendale Blvd. has been vacant since the 1970s. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Like so many of the large parcels of land in the area near the 5 & 2 Freeways, Monte Sano has long been a part of the Legacy of Failed Development. Like the Menlo Property, Corralitas Red Car Property & Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract, Monte Sano has been approved for a large number of units, had approvals thrown out on appeal, and approved again for a somewhat smaller development. And yet, Monte Sano remains unbuilt.

Monte Sano Hospital & Sanitarium shut its doors in the 1970s. It appears to have been torn down then too, although this has not been verified. Like the aforementioned large parcels of land in the neighborhood, speculators have neglected it. The City Attorney, CD 4 & CD13 and LAPD have had to persuade the owners to remove and prevent the frequent homeless encampments that persist on Monte Sano. For many years, the site was not fenced off at all. Even today, it's easy to access by walking around the fencing.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 27, 2009. Today, Monte Sano looks much the same today as it did 25 years ago. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

In 1985, Monte Sano was approved for 222 units. The school board even joined the outcry on appeal to the City Council on the grounds that the area schools were already overcrowded. (See page 2 of January 31, 1985 LA Times story by Larry Gordon.) Peggy Stevenson was the City Councilmember (CD13) for the area at the time.

By a March 6, 1986 LA Times story by Larry Gordon, Mike Woo had defeated Stevenson and was now CD13's City Councilmember. The City Council voted unanimously to throw out the earlier approvals for 222 units on Monte Sano.

The March 6, 1986 story also mentions 240 units planned for the Riverside Drive property we now refer to as the Menlo Property. Both Monte Sano and the Menlo Property were later downzoned in the area bounded by Fletcher, Glendale Blvd. and Riverside Drive.

Around 2004, after being redistricted into CD4, Monte Sano was again approved for 63 condo units. Prior to filing the application, the developer cut down most of the native Coast Live Oak trees on the site. While it was prior to the current Native Tree Ordinance, the oaks would have been somewhat protected under the old oak tree ordinance.

Despite approval, the 63-unit condo project never broke ground at Monte Sano. The site remains vacant.

See also: Legacy of Failed Development

Menlo Property: No Sidewalk Yet Required On Glendale Blvd.

There is no sidewalk on Glendale Blvd adjacent to the Sam Menlo-owned River Glen Apartments. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

The wide swath of grass between the River Glen Apartments and Glendale Blvd. is intended as a future City street dedication. Glendale Blvd. could really use a dedicated left turn lane from Glendale Blvd onto Riverside Drive. However, it's not required by City Planning as a part of the current Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) for 2600-2750 Riverside Drive.

As mitigation for allowing the zone variance for the existing 157 units as well as approval for another 120 units on the vacant land south of the River Glen Apts on Riverside Drive, the City should, at the very minimum, require Menlo to build the sidewalk the length of their property on Glendale Blvd. But the current MND does not require it.

According to a neighbor on Waverly, when the City approved 63 condo units for the old Monte Sano Hospital site, the City included a condition requiring construction of a sidewalk the entire length of the Monte Sano Property on Glendale Blvd. The Monte Sano developer never broke ground after it was approved for the 63 condos earlier this decade.

The Monte Sano site is directly adjacent to the Menlo Property. They are the only two properties on the southeast side of Glendale Blvd between Waverly and Riverside Drive.

The cumulative effects of a sidewalk on both the Monte Sano and Menlo properties on Glendale Blvd. would improve pedestrian safety and encourage more people to walk to the LA River and Atwater from Silver Lake. Unless developers are required to do these things when a discretionary action by the City is involved, they never get done.

The Menlo Property goes to public hearing January 6, 2010.

Rainbow Ends in Silver Lake

Photo: Maryann Kuk, December 7, 2009, 3:16 PM. Silver Lake Reservoir from West Silver Lake Drive. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Maryann sent some spectacular views of the reservoir this afternoon. I usually don't run photos from outside the immediate neighborhood surrounding the old Red Car Line (between the 2 Freeway Terminus and the Hyperion Bridge). I can justify using these since the rainbow below ends near Monte Sano.

Photo: Maryann Kuk, December 7, 2009, 3:16 PM. Monte Sano is just beyond the rainbow's end. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Ugly Rooftop Watch: Menlo Property

Photo: August 13, 2009. Rooftop of Sam Menlo-owned, 157-unit, Riverglen Apts. at Riverside Dr. & Glendale Blvd. Hyperion Bridge is in the background. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Is there any wonder why screening of rooftop equipment should be mandatory for all construction in and around Designated Hillside Areas?

Expect a public hearing in January for the zone variance and application to build 120 units on the Menlo Property. The City Planning Advisory Agency case was continued in July.

2008: LA River, 5 Freeway

Photo: Atwater Village Newbie, 2008. Hyperion Bridge crosses the LA River at Glendale Blvd. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Compare with yesterday's 1953 Clarence Inman photo. In the above photo, the big vacant lot in the foreground is the former site of Monte Sano Hospital. The bridge footings (the piers extending into the river, south of the Hyperion Bridge) for the Red Car Trolley are still in place in the river.

Since the early 1990's, the Army Corps of Engineers allowed the trees to grow in the the river as a restoration of riparian habitat in our section of the LA River, also known as the Glendale Narrows.

Also worth comparing with the 1953 photo, is the 5 Freeway corridor between the river and Griffith Park.

Related Links:
Clarence Inman Photo Collection
Atwater Village Newbie's aerial LA River photos
Atwater Village Newbie's Red Car Project
Atwater Village Newbie

1953: LA River, 5 Freeway Corridor

Photo: Clarence Inman Collection, 1953. The 5 Freeway now runs along the west side of the LA River (this side of the river). (Click on photo to enlarge.)

The Red Car Trolleys crossed the LA River on their own dedicated bridge (just to the right of the Hyperion Bridge in the photo above). The tracks continued south to Downtown along private rights-of-way on the slope above Riverside Drive on lots we we now call the Menlo Property (between Glendale Blvd and Fletcher), across the Fletcher Viaduct and further south on the Red Car Property to the 2 Freeway Corridor.