skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, November 21, 2017. Construction notice is posted at 2608-2610 Corralitas Drive. Two single family homes are approved for the site situated on a blind hairpin curve adjacent to the Corralitas Public Staircase. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
Why does the City allow construction activity in a hillside neighborhood with substandard Hillside streets until 9PM?
The likely answer is to allow extra time for DIY homeowners who don't have time during weekdays to work on their own homes. But that is a completely different situation than new home construction or permit-triggering renovations.
Most construction sites don't work past 6 PM on Corralitas Drive, but why is it even allowed? Considering parking, limited access and heavy evening traffic on residential Hillside streets in any zone, this is absurd. Multi-family zoned Hillside streets are even more congested and have bigger parking problems than R1 Hillside neighborhoods.
If it falls within the Hillside Area, no matter the zone, construction should only be allowed until 6 or 7 PM, M-F. It doesn't even benefit developers if they have to stop work, move trucks, fences and equipment every time people try to drive up the hill.
Why is construction allowed on all national holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Day?! Neighbors of this site report the developer will be drilling holes with heavy equipment on Thanksgiving. No grading, hauling, deliveries or heavy equipment use, associated with construction permits, should be allowed on residential Hillside streets on Saturdays or national holidays. This should include any site where vehicle access is via residential Hillside streets.
Corralitas Drive has suffered through construction of 11 lots in the past 27 years, this is now the 12th. Yet another duplex has been proposed for another lot on the street. The fastest site took 18 months to build by developers who knew what they were doing in Hillside. The longest was 5 years. Corralitas Drive is not a through street and does not have regulation sized cul-de-sacs. Weekend construction with heavy equipment and deliveries is not worthwhile.
You can file complaints about violations like failure to adequately control fugitive dust, equipment stored in the street or on sidewalks, blocking the street and public staircases, dangerous conditions, damage to adjacent property on Building & Safety's (LADBS) website.
Neighbors should save the phone number of Parking Enforcement (LADOT) to their phone: (818) 374-4823
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, September 15, 2017. Last week, LA City Fire Department began posting "No Smoking, No Discarding of Burning Objects" signs in the Hillside Area surrounding the Red Car Property and Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract (above photo at Allesandro and Rosebud - the sole vehicle entrance to the steep Semi Tropic hillside).
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, September 15, 2017. The municipal code sections are referenced on the signs, here seen at the site of the 2016 Silver Lake Fire at the end of Corralitas Drive. The LAFD has the authority to place these signs in Hillside Areas.
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, September 15, 2017. While brush may be cleared in many of the areas now, brush is often often dry for months before it is cleared. Neighbors who've seen the same signs all over the Hollywood Hills for decades, noted their more recent proliferation in Beachwood Canyon and requested the signs for our neighborhood. Several neighbors provided a list of suggested locations to the LAFD fire marshal overseeing the placement of the signs.
Photo: Jay Lieske, September 23, 2017. Indeed, the fire marshal compared parts of our neighborhood to neighborhoods in the Hollywood Hills. We have many isolated areas like this one on Adelbert, right up against brush areas on narrow winding Hillside streets with no through traffic, in addition to public staircases and paper streets that are hidden and open to the Red Car Property.
Neighbors welcomed the signs as a reminder we live in a tinder dry hillside neighborhood. Neighbors hope the signs get the attention of smokers who carelessly discard their cigarettes in dry brush areas. At least one neighbor documented discarded cigarettes in parts of the neighborhood in the request for signs. Neighbors noted areas where partying, homeless camps and squatter houses have attracted problems.
I've asked for these signs for 25 years. I'm grateful to the Red Car Property Neighbor who was able to devote time and energy into spearheading this project to making it a reality.
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, April 28, 2017. Brush clearance immediately adjacent to the Silver Lake Ave Public Staircase was done (it is a 30' wide public right of way), but not elsewhere on the slope, on the Lake View side of the Red Car Property. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, February 18, 2017. The Red Car Property was muddy, yet walkable, a day after the deluge.
We're tracking rainfall totals in the Corralitas Drive rain gauge...
February 17 - 18, 2017: 2.4" (as of 9:30 AM)
Rain year to date: 23.1" (since Oct. 1)
Photo: Gary Vlahakis, January 1, 2017. Red Car Canyon Lakes were more swampy, than lake-like, after more than an inch of rain over two days.
Photo: Gary Vlahakis, January 1, 2017. Seriously, who is driving around behind Rose Scharlin Nursery School early on New Year's Day? It's muddy - were you expecting otherwise?
Photo: Gary Vlahakis, January 1, 2017. So glad brush clearance happened a few weeks ago. Rainfall totals on Corralitas Drive for past two days:
December 30, 2016: 0.5"
December 31, 2016: 0.7"
Rain year to date: 7.6"
We had just over 6" of rain since December 15, 2016.
Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, April 19, 2016. The day before the DWP dug a trench up an upper landing of the Corralitas Public Staircase, Vedugo Hills Chapter of the Sierra Club pulled weeds at the base of the public staircase at Rosebud. The chapter adopted the public staircase a year ago. They had hoped to plant wildflower seeds prior to the rainy season this year, but the construction site above was using it to dump dirt and debris temporarily. The succulents were planted by neighbors years ago.
Photos: Corralitas Neighbors, April 19, 2016. Today, the DWP dug up a landing on the Corralitas Public Staircase to put in water main connections for a duplex under construction at the top of the public staircase.
Neighbors were advised the DWP would be putting n a water main connection off the public staircase this week. However we had no idea the DWP would be digging up the public staircase and started sending photos first thing this morning. We posted the photos to our Twitter feed as soon as we received them.
According to one neighbor, the DWP dug a trench all the way up the hill, on the opposite side of the public staircase, then crossed under the staircase at the base of the last flight of stairs. According to the workers on site, they would only be replacing the landing they dug up.
We hope the work doesn't undermine the Corralitas Public Staircase. The staircase dates to at least 1922 as shown in the Hunter Terrace - Elysian Gardens real estate brochure). Portions of the staircase are in dire need of repair.
The two flights at the bottom of the public staircase were rebuilt in 1961, when the state cut deeply into the hillside for construction of the 2 Freeway. From 1960 - 1962, Rosebud, Corralitas and the pubic staircase were moved to accommodate freeway construction.
Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, April 12, 2016. Tuesday, the City Department of Transportation (DOT) mistakenly placed temporary No Parking signs on both sides of Corralitas Drive between Rosebud and the top of the hill - covering 80% of the entire hillside street with only one means of access.
Today, we learned the signs were for the DWP to put in a water main connection to a duplex under construction at the top of the Corralitas Public Staircase. After I spoke by phone to the DWP site supervisor this morning, he went to the street and removed all the unnecessary signs. The remaining signs are around construction site at either end of the public staircase. DWP needs the parking for their vehicles and to leave a lane open for cars going up and down the hill.
Work should be complete next week. The Corralitas Public Staircase will be closed to the public on the days they are working there. Work should start later this week and take about 2 days (not a month as the no parking permit was issued to the DWP).
Tuesday, neighbors were fuming as there was no information, nor warning prior to the signs showing up. Corralitas neighbors worked together quickly sharing information so we could follow up. A number of neighbors spoke to the DWP site supervisor in the street today. He encouraged us to talk to them on site if there are questions or problems.
Good work neighbors!
Previous: Mystery No Parking Signs
Photo: Gary Vlahakis, April 8, 2016. Yesterday, another neighbor asked about the falling rocks from the construction site above the intersection of Corralitas & Rosebud. Yeah, they're tumbling down. Mud is also sliding down the public staircase and sidewalk.
Preliminary rainfall totals this afternoon:
April 8, 2016, 9 AM - 5 PM: 0.2"
*Rain year to date: 8.9"
*Normally, the "rain year" would have ended June 30. However, this rain year, California joined the rest of the country, reporting rainfall totals between October 1 to September 30.
Who expected to have significant rain between July 1 and October 1?
There will always be an asterisk next to the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 rain years on Corralitas Drive. The 2014-2015 rain year ended with 15.17." We got an unprecedented 4" between July 1 and September 30, 2015.
Photo: Gary Vlahakis, April 8, 2016. Before dawn this morning, the mud run-off was significant from the Corralitas Drive construction site above the public staircase.
Photo: Gary Vlahakis, April 8, 2016. By 9 AM we'd only gotten a 1/10 of an inch of rain. Th construction site needs to control the dirt and rocks tumbling down from their extremely steep site onto the public staircase and sidewalk.
We track rainfall totals in the Corralitas Drive rain gauge...
April 7 - 8, 2016 by 9 AM: 0.1"
*Rain year to date: 8.7"
*Normally, the "rain year" would have ended June 30. However, this rain year, California joined the rest of the country, reporting rainfall totals between October 1 to September 30.
Who expected to have significant rain between July 1 and October 1?
There will always be an asterisk next to the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 rain years on Corralitas Drive. The 2014-2015 rain year ended with 15.17." We got an unprecedented 4" between July 1 and September 30, 2015.
Photo: Jonathan Vandiveer, March 25, 2016. Broken glass glittering like jewels, particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) glowing in the sunrise, bougainvillea blooming...get out there and exercise before work!
Letta Venegas, Rose Scharlin community liaison, wrote in an email, "Families that live within walking distance will be assigned the first visit/interview slots for 2016/17 school year and be given admissions priority."
We're still awaiting a public hearing for their Conditional Use Permit from City Planning. In the meantime, per neighbors' request, the school is making an effort to recruit more neighbors who can walk their kids to school. Neighbors genuinely want Rose Scharlin to be a neighborhood nursery school once again.
If you're a neighbor looking for a nursery school, consider the benefits of getting some exercise walking or biking your kid to school in your own neighborhood, versus sitting in a car and fighting traffic on another street on a road diet to get to a school in another part of town. Driving to the other side of Silver Lake is not a quick trip anymore.
Photo: Jonathan Vandiveer, January 6, 2016. This afternoon, Vandiveer was heading out but had to stop and run up the Silver Lake Ave Public Staircase to the Red Car Property to shoot the full double rainbow, ending north of India Street on the Red Car Property. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
Don't drive on the Red Car Property - you're likely to get stuck in the mud.
Photo: Jonathan Vandiveer, January 6, 2016. The other end of the rainbow appears to be in Debs Park.
We're tracking rainfall totals in the Corralitas rain gauge...
Tues, January 5, 2016: 2.9"
Wed, January 6, 2016: 0.6" as of 1PM. At 5PM, the neighbor with the rain gauge reports, "Dogs & cats are falling from the sky...loudly. Very loudly."
We also suspect the 1PM reading is not right, since she didn't want to go outside at the time to read the gauge. We'll update the totals when possible.
Send us your rain related photos from the Red Car Property neighborhood: redcarproperty@gmail.com. During this El Niño rainy season, we'll likely get updates on Twitter faster than the blog. Follow us on Twitter @RedCarProperty
*Stuff you missed this year...
Photo: Diane Edwardson, December 11, 2015. We've still got a backlog of photos from 2015 that we'll continue using. It's been a busy year. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
*Stuff
You Missed This Year is our annual wrap up of interesting photos and
things we just didn't have a chance to run, because everything seems to
always happen at the same time.
Photos: Diane Edwardson, December 7, 2015, 3:31 PM. I heard the sound of a car speeding down the Red Car Property behind me. Unfortunately, I did not get good photos but they do illustrate the dust that was kicked up. This is another reason why the property needs to be gated to vehicle traffic. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
Considering I'd just passed an elderly woman walking with her nurse and a man walking his dog, I immediately, pulled my camera from my pocket and just shot photos - not waiting to see if they were in focus. The light was bad and the dust would throw the focus off once it got close.
The bright blue Mustang type car was shiny and in new condition, with what appeared to be 3 people inside, as it fishtailed past the elderly woman and her nurse. I stood in the middle of the path to the wooded canyon area shooting photos. They slowed down and turned around behind Rose Scharlin Nursery School, but choking dust was everywhere.
The blue car sped back toward India Street. I go no better photos with my phone.
Switching back to my camera, I could at least see the dust the speeding car kicked up.
I could also see the elderly woman holding her sweater over her mouth and nose to keep the dust out. That's not haze. That's the 20' cloud of fine dust the car kicked up. It was a crystal clear, but dark afternoon on the Red Car Property. The sun had already moved beyond the top of Silver Ridge.
This is not the first time this year we've see people joyriding on the Red Car Property, putting people and animals at risk, in addition to creating a health risk with the dust. It is yet another reason why the property should have heavy steel parking gates similar to the gates on every fire road in Griffith and Elysian Park to prevent all but emergency vehicles on the property.
Photo: Jonathan Vandiveer, November 29, 2015. In case you needed motivation to get up early and run/walk before work tomorrow.
The Silver Lake Ave Public Staircase connects Allesandro Elementary School and the streets surrounding it (Riverside Terrace and Riverside Place) to the Red Car Property, Lake View Ave and Silver Ridge Ave.
Photo: Gary Macheel, November 9, 2015. Monday morning, a young Cooper's Hawk paid a visit to Macheel's yard. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
When Macheel sent me this photo, I immediately knew I'd seen a similar raptor near the Silver Lake Ave Public Staircase and the Red Car Property a few months ago. I've often seen Cooper's Hawks flying north on Lake View, then take a left at Macheel's house, disappearing in the trees on the steep slope between Lake View and Silver Ridge.
Red Car Canyon between Lake View Ave and Corralitas Drive is prime Cooper's Hawk territory. Cooper's Hawk's are forest dwelling hawks that have adapted well to the urban forest on Silver Lake and Echo Park. They like to hunt in the dense trees and have remarkable maneuvering ability.
Additionally, be on the lookout for Great Horned Owls. Macheel said he and his wife "saw it on our morning walk two days ago...gliding above us...white underbelly and wings."
Click here for all our Cooper's Hawk posts.
Learn more about Cooper's Hawks: Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Photo: Jonathan Vandiveer, October 20, 2015. Various utility companies left their tags on Lake View Ave and Silver Lake Ave Public Staircase, as well as the paper street of Silver Lake Court. We suspect this is involved with the sewer work in the area.
Worth noting, I requested a repainting of the red curb on Lake View at the Silver Lake Ave Public Staircase in early August to the Dept of Transportation (DOT), service request # 44828. Of course the DOT doesn't bother to put a date on the public website (that is if they even found the curb. It does not show they've even investigated. There does not appear to be accountability at the DOT. That's another reason we post things to the blog.
