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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: s_d_m, October 15, 2017. Red Car Property Adjacent Neighbors found an Angle Winged Katydid and it obliged with a seasonal photo shoot while demonstrating its excellent camouflage. See more of their photos on iNaturalist.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, 1995, Corralitas Drive.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, 1997, Corralitas Drive.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, 2015, Corralitas Drive.
*Post originally published July 2, 2014.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 4, 2013. That giant airborne explosion is not a professional fireworks show, but illegal fireworks shot off by some idiot on the south (Silver Lake & Elysian Heights) side of the 5 Freeway, close to Corralitas Drive. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
It seems every year we see more people shooting off illegal fireworks in the hills. You can hear the gunpowder raining down on your roof, patios & trees - as I witnessed on Corralitas a couple years ago. That same year, another neighbor was dumbstruck when he saw drunken hipsters shooting off similar fireworks way up on top of Micheltorena.
ALL FIREWORKS ARE ILLEGAL IN THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES, UNLESS THEY ARE IN A PROFESSIONAL FIREWORKS SHOW.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 27, 2014. The dying Eucalyptus tree is still hanging above Red Car Canyon today. (APN 5440-030-033)
In fact, only 2 of the dozen or so dead and dying Eucalyptus we highlighted in May trees were significantly trimmed back.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 27, 2014. The dead weeds are taller than the allowed 3" within 100' of homes.
Links: LAFD Brush Clearance Unit
All our brush clearance posts
LAPD
and LAFD are telling people, if you see someone shooting off fireworks,
call 1-877-ASK-LAPD. If you see smoke, safely investigate. If you see
fire (not a BBQ) call 911.
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, December 24, 2016. It wouldn't be Christmas on Corralitas without festivities at the end of the street. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
Happy Holidays!
Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, October 24, 2016. Just a reminder, slow down while driving our hillside streets. There are children, animals and people who may not be able to move quickly in the roadway. Keep your kids and animals inside and, or on a leash this weekend. Expect lots of revelry for the holidays.
Please show some respect for your neighbors if you are hosting a party. Turn the noise down after 10PM, not everyone shares your taste in music. The hills are notorious for the "canyon effect" of sound bouncing around and being louder across a canyon than right next door.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 11, 2016. Parking is limited to one side of the street on most of our area streets. Encourage your guests to use a ride sharing or taxi service and ensure they park legally (not on the Red Car Property, red curb, wrong side of the street nor blocking your neighbors' driveways).
Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 7, 2016. Not a pretty opossum: mangy, lumpy and limpy.
Don't encourage unwanted guests at your party. If your party is outdoors, be sure to clean up all food trash the same night, or the rats, skunks, opossum, raccoons and coyotes will make a bigger mess of your yard than you left it the night before. And they will keep returning, looking for more.
Have a safe and sane Halloween and Dia de los Muertos.
Photo Diane Edwardson, December 2015. Santa's losing to his reindeer in a competitive seesaw match at the winter wonderland on Corralitas Drive. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
Have a safe and Merry Christmas!
Photo: Joan Stevenson, October 30, 2015. Slow down while driving the neighborhood. Little ones are enjoying the holiday.
This week, we've been celebrating Halloween in our Red Car Neighborhood way.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 23, 2015. Don't get stuck.
If you're hosting a party, be considerate of your neighbors. The "canyon effect" amplifies sound as it bounces around the hills in quirky ways. Turn the volume down. If your guests have to shout over the music to converse, your neighbors are likely none too happy about the party.
This week we've been celebrating Halloween in our Red Car Neighborhood way.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 10, 2015. Mixing residential and cemetery land uses is not allowed in the Low-Medium I, R2 zone, yet. With all the new "creative zoning" coming out of City Planning, you might want to keep an eye on those Citywide Planning Commission agendas. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
All week long, we've been celebrating Halloween in our Red Car Property Neighborhood way.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 12, 2015. This fall has given us no shortage of dramatic sunrises. Worth noting, both trees are protected native trees in the City of Los Angeles: on the left, Western Sycamore; right, California Black Walnut. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
Four years of drought has been tough on even the native trees. Before you cut down or remove protected native trees, even if you think they are they are dead, be aware you need a permit from the City of Los Angeles Board of Public Works. Native tree roots are extremely deep. They help hold hillsides together in the rain, even if the tree has been cut down. So leave the roots in the ground. They often regenerate new growth from the trunk the following spring.
Learn more: City of LA Department of Urban Forestry
We're celebrating Halloween all week long in our own Red Car Neighborhood way.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 8, 2015. It's more dramatic in black and white. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
We're celebrating Halloween in our Red Car Neighborhood way this week.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 4, 2015. We got a late start publishing Halloween photos from around the neighborhood this month, so it's only a week of fun this year. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
Photo: Diane Edwardson, March 14, 2015. A very large (about 15" long, nose to tip of tail) Alligator Lizard startled me in the canyon. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
The lizard ran while moving his body & tail back and forth like an awkward snake through the dry leaves. Indeed, he was so long, from a distance, he would have looked like a snake speeding through the leaves. Except that snakes don't make that much noise moving through dry leaves. His snake imitation must serve him well, as he has achieved considerable size indeed.
This guy is most likely a San Diego Alligator Lizard (Elgaria multicarinata webbii). According to California Herps, they are longest subspecies of Southern Alligator Lizard; 15" - 16" long lizards (nose to tail) are not unusual.
Alligator Lizards will bite to defend themselves. It's best to look, but not touch. Happy Saint Patrick's Day!
Photo: Diane Edwardson, 2008. The Glory of Patina Boy was a Corralitas Drive holiday tradition for nearly 20 years.
Photo: Gary Vlahakis, December 11, 2014. It's starting to look a lot like Christmas. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 30, 2014. Perhaps that water isn't as clean as they would have you believe. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
Have a safe Halloween. Slow down while driving our neighborhood tonight, there are a lot of young kids in the neighborhood.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 20, 2014. When the spiders are catching cats, it's time to call an exterminator. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
