LAFD Declares Red Flag Parking Restrictions Will Be In Effect Again Thursday

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, December 5, 2017.  Tuesday, neighbors who parked on the Freeway side of Corralitas Drive, in defiance of the Red Flag Day No Parking signs, got $68 tickets.  The point of the freeway side of the street being clear on Corralitas, where vehicle  access is extremely limited, is to have consistent access for emergency vehicles while leaving the street open for neighbors to escape safely.

After first lifting Red Flag parking restrictions 8 AM today, LAFD has called a Red Flag Day for tomorrow, Thursday December 7, 2017, beginning at 8AM.  Text of the message sent:

DATE/TIME: 12/06/2017 / 03:11:53PM

SUBJECT: RED FLAG PARKING RESTRICTIONS IN EFFECT

The City of Los Angeles has declared that Red Flag No Parking Restrictions to be in effect starting 8:00 AM on 12/07/2017 and will remain in effect until further notice.

For additional information please visit our website at: http://notify.lafd.org/redflag OR call 3-1-1. Thank you for your cooperation.

Note: The Call Center's operating hours are from 08:00 AM to 4:45 PM daily including weekends and holidays.

Ref:notify.lafd.org-37005

LAFD Declared Red Flag Parking Restrictions In Effect Tues, Dec 5, 2017, Until Further Notice

Photo: Diane Edwardson September 9, 2009.  LAFD declared a Red Flag Day starting at 8AM, Tuesday, December 5, 2017.  LAFD's website has become difficult to sign up for, or change how you receive notices.  Some of us, who've been signed up for alerts since the program began, got notice; others did not.  Once again, I got a call and email but not a text.  I used to receive all three. I recommend following @LAFDtalk on Twitter.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor June 19, 2016.  The Silver Lake Fire illustrated why Corralitas Drive is a Red Flag Day No Parking street.  There is only one access road, Rosebud Ave, to about 52 homes on Corralitas Drive, a substandard Hillside Street with hairpin turns.  If you didn't drive out before the Fire Dept arrived, you could not drive off the hill.  June 19, 2017 was not a Red Flag Day.  Neighbors a half a mile away, reported 6" embers blowing past their homes.  

The recent fires in Orange County, Napa Valley and Santa Rosa were wind driven fires.

December 1, 2011, we had a major windstorm that knocked down trees, knocked out power and started a fire on Lake View Ave.  

Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract: Dead Trees, Brush Clearance

Photo: Corralitas Drive Neighbor, June 13, 2017.  Dry grass on the odd slope on Allesandro St at Rosebud Ave which is actually Sunflower Ave, but the maps are out of sync with the street signs.  (click on photos to enlarge.)

The odd slope is within the CalTrans easement, but like everything surrounding the 2 Freeway, no one takes responsibility for it. More than once in 27 years,  I've seen a CalTrans crew spray the weeds with poison.

Photo: Corralitas Drive Neighbor, June 13, 2017.  Enlarged from previous photo.  Dead Eucalyptus are in the Modjeska Street right-of-way, a paper street, on an  extremely steep slope in the Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract.  Looks like the Modjeska slope is in need of brush clearance too.  The City will never build  40' wide Modjeska Street right-of-way, as it is steeper than a 30% grade.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 22, 2016.  A year ago, the dead non-native Eucalyptus in the Modjeska paper street, were clearly evident as viewed from Corralitas Drive.  Eucalyptus trees all over the area have been dying suddenly for the past 4 years.  The Modjeska trees have been dead for more than a year.

Every year on and around the 4th of July, some idiots invariably shoot fireworks off over the Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract.

Historic Landmark Landacre Cabin & Grounds: Big Parade LA Walking By Today

Photo: Andrew Sears, 2005.  Preeminent 20th Century wood-block print artist carved a petrel, his signature bird into the eaves of his cabin in Elysian Heights hidden in the oak trees in the Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract where he lived from 1925 to 1963.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

The City declared Landacre's cabin and grounds a cultural historic landmark in 2005.  Landacre took inspiration from what was a spiritual place neighborhood with dramatic light.  Sadly much of the character of the community fell to a developer's chainsaws and bulldozers in 2011-2013.  Now the tree filled hillside from which Landacre drew inspiration now has an Orange County office park aesthetic.  

The Big Parade LA is the epic urban hike from Hike from Downtown to Hollywood featuring 32 miles and  86 public staircases. It's free, fun and festive.  Join for a few miles, staircases, a day or both days. Info, routes and everything you need to know about the Big Parade: http://bigparadela.tumblr.com/

Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract: The Big Parade Will Walk Through Today

Photo: Diane Edwardson, 2011. It doesn't look like this anymore. (Click on photos to enlarge.)  

The Big Parade will walk through what was once one of the most beautiful hillsides of Elysian Heights.  It's hard to believe it was only 2011 when it still lived up to its name, "Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract."  Now it's more like "Orange County Office Park."

The preeminent 20th Century wood-cut print artist, Paul Landacre was inspired by the beauty of the landscape of the hillside, creating art in his 40 years of living and working on his (now neglected historic cultural landmark cabin & grounds on the hill.  

Photo: Diane Edwardson, 2013.  What was once 4 acres of mostly native trees below Landacre's modest home, a natural habitat for wildlife, is now a sterile, controversial, eyeball searingly bright white series of stucco boxes on an unnaturally graded slope.  

The developer did see the light of day when potential buyers said what do you mean there's an acre of open space that we pay to maintain above our house and we can't walk to it?  So as an afterthought, they built a publicly accessible staircase that is extremely steep out of railroad ties.

The Big Parade, the ultimate urban hike, will walk down the Artis quasi-public staircase today.  Follow their progress on Twitter.

2 & 5 Freeway Interchange: 1961 Massive Grading Project

Photo: Smith, 1961.  From El Moran & Peru Streets in the Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract. The State built up a massive wall of dirt for the 2 Freeway.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

The huge cut into the Corralitas hillside is more evident in this photo than the photo we reviewed for the past few days.  Keep in mind, Corralitas Drive drops below the level of the freeway to meet Rosebud Ave under the Freeway. Take a look at the 1940 photo to try to understand the complete reshaping of the landscape imposed on our neighborhood. 

The slope reshaping/stabilization continued downslope between Corralitas Drive and the Southbound 2 Freeway lanes (below the oldest house on Corralitas), stretching down to Riverside Drive below.  Since the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) didn't take effect until 1972, it's a good bet they did not use adequate dust control measures. 

If you can match the above photo from a time before the freeways were built, please send it to redcarproperty@gmail.com with any details like year, photographer, if it was in your family's photo album, etc. 

Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 13, 2013.  I don't have a good match in my archives for the 1961 shot because the trees on Modjeska block the matching shot. 

2 Freeway: Rosebud Ave Overpass 1961-2013

Photo: Smith, 1961.  This 1961 photo reveals so many things about the history of Corralitas Drive (on the other side of the freeway), that we're going to talk about it for a few days.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

In 1961, this was a brand new alignment for Rosebud Ave, under the newly built 2 Freeway.  According to the Smith family (who built their house on Corralitas Drive in 1938), this entrance to Corralitas did not exist before the freeways.  Rosebud may have been 100' down Allesandro (closer to Riverside Drive) than its current location, lining up with the actual hillside street.  Our only good pre-freeway photo is from 1940, but it is not conclusive.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 13, 2013. Both photos shot from the paper street right of way of Modjeska, looking across Allesandro St, under the 2 Freeway on Rosebud Ave to Corralitas Drive & the Corralitas Public Staircase going up the hillside.

If you've got pre-freeway photos of the neighborhood surrounding the 2 & 5 Freeway interchange, email jpegs to us: redcarproperty@gmail.com.  Please include as much pertinent info as possible, including photographer, year, where your family lived or worked in the area etc.& if your family is still in the neighborhood. 

Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract: 2009-2013, Not So Spiritual Anymore

Photo: Diane Edwardson, April 17, 2009.  In 2009, neighbors lost their final appeal against the controversial 16-lot subdivision of the former "garden lots" in the Semi-Tropic Spiritualists' Tract.  The nearly 4-acre parcel was an urban forest which was originally designed as open space in the 1905 subdivision.   (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Photo: Alissa Walker, May 19, 2012.  Planet Home Living & VanDaele Homes graded the hell out of the slope after cutting down almost all of the trees on the entire parcel in 2012.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 13, 2013.  The Orange County office park aesthetic will soon be taking over Silver Lake & Echo Park as the same developers have quite a few projects in the works in our area. 

Can't wait 'till CalTrans cuts down the trees & builds sound walls on Allesandro Street to really enhance the neighborhood. 

Semi Tropic Hell: Living Up To Its Name

Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 5, 2013, 3:50 PM.  The heat island effect surrounding the Artis development just grew more intense this weekend, with the taking down of 90% of a 60' tall, non-native Ficus tree at the "corner" of El Moran & Alvarado.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

This was one of about 5 large trees remaining of the nearly 4-acre hillside urban forest, clear cut by the developer in 2012 to make way for the controversial 16-lot subdivision (15 single family homes; 1 "open space" lot). 

Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 5, 2013, 3:51 PM.  The 10% tree that remains is balancing precariously against the power lines leading to the top of the hill.  It seemed a bit dangerous and there was no DWP or Fire truck standing by in a Red Flag Warning day. No work occurred on Sunday.

It's incredibly hot on this slope since we lost the nearly 4 acres of trees here, next to the 2 & 5 Freeway heat islands.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 22, 2013.  It looks like the tree had been the victim of some bad tree trimming on the El Moran Street side.  But that's no reason to take down the entire tree.  Now it's so dangerous they have to take it down. 

The developer's tree report submitted to the Board of Public Works in 2011, as a part of the permit process for removing the protected native trees, identified this tree as a "high quality tree" (but somehow only stated it to be 24" diameter trunk - clearly it is much more looking at the first photo).  But in the big scheme of things - non native, non-protected trees don't count.  Since they are still under construction, they may only have to replace this tree with a tree that won't reach this size in our lifetime.

Most people moved to Silver Lake, Echo Park, Elysian Heights because they didn't want live in cookie cutter homes without trees.  Large trees add value to property, provide shade & reduce cooling costs.   

Note: "Semi Tropic Hell" is my file name for Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract development battles, which date back to the late 1970s.  The Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract was cut in 1905.

Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract: 2 Years Later, Not So Spiritual Anymore

Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 28, 2011.  The Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract's former almost-4-acre garden lots lived up to their tract's name with a thriving urban forest. (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 28, 2012.  The neighborhood endured 9 months of grading on the denuded slopes. 

Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 29, 2013.  The controversial development of 15 stucco boxes will soon be completed.  It will take another 50 years for the trees to reach become an urban forest again, if they grow on the compacted slopes.  

Allesandro Street between Rosebud & El Moran is a heat island now.  The developer chose to plant no trees in the parkway between the street and the sidewalk, despite neighbors asking for trees there from the beginning of the discretionary approval process for the subdivision.  There are trees appropriate for planting beneath power lines. 

There are, however, additional concrete light poles now, so we have additional clutter, but no trees.  They couldn't just put a few more arms on the existing wood power poles? 

Note: The mature trees remaining on the hill above the new homes are NOT on the 4-acre development site.  Only 5 mature tree remained in the plans after deforestation, most of those; Eucalyptus. 

Riverside Drive: Paramount Pest Control, 1960 Another Summer Rerun*

Photo: A. Futterer, Holyland Exhibition, 1960.  The Paramount Pest Control building was one of the few to survive the eminent domain action to clear a path for the 5 Freeway.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Read more about  the Paramount Pest Control building on Riverside Drive at Allesandro on The Eastsider.

 

*This post first ran November 16, 2011.  The foreground grading, through the center of the photo, is for the 2 Freeway.



Riverside Drive: 1927 - 2008, Another Rerun*

Photo: C.C. Pierce Photography, Title Insurance & Trust, California Historical Society, probably 1927 (when area roads were paved). Riverside Drive at Partridge Rd., looking toward Allesandro. Note the retaining wall on the right: it's the same wall as currently in front of Allesandro Elementary School and homes on Riverside Drive today.(Click on photo to enlarge.)
Photo: AAA of Southern California, USC Digital Archives, 1961. 2 & 5 Freeway construction dramatically changed the landscape of the neighborhood. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Photo: Diane Edwardson, 2008. If you look closely at the first photo and this photo, you can see the same homes on Sunflower Ave. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Cal Trans & the MTA released the environmental review for the 2 Freeway Terminus Redesign. There are two community workshops and a public hearing in June 2009.

In the fall of 2008, we explored the history of our neighborhood surrounding the 2 Freeway through photos collected primarily from neighbors. If you have photos of the neighborhood prior to, or during construction of the area freeways, please share them with us: redcarproperty@gmail.com.

*This post was originally published May 20, 2009.  Due the recent tanker fire at the 2 & 5 Freeway Interchange, we thought it was a good time to stroll through our archives.

Click here for all our 2 Freeway History posts. 

Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract: Stuff You Missed Last Year Because We're Trying Not To Look Across The 2 Freeway

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 24, 2012.  Some neighbors are reminded every day how great the loss of 4 acres of urban forest and a complete regrading of the slope in the controversial Semi Tropical Spiritualists' Tract 16-lot subdivision has been for the neighborhood.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

 

Gee, once Cal Trans cuts down the trees on the opposite side of the 2 Freeway and builds sound walls, it will certainly improve the neighborhood!

Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract: Joys Of Hillside Living

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 20, 2012, 10:13 AM.  And developers wonder why neighbors in Hillside neighborhoods get nit-picky about haul routes and construction vehicles blocking Hillside streets - especially when there's only one means of access for the entire hill.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

 

Last week, DWP informed neighbors that they would be digging up the street at Rosebud Ave & Allesandro St (above) to lay water lines for the controversial 16-lot subdivision in the Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract. 

 

As I turned left onto Allesandro from Rosebud, a LAPD cruiser stopped in the middle of Allesandro.  The officers seemed equally amazed by the City crew blocking the only means of access for the entire hillside above.  When I returned 10 minutes later, the crew had repositioned the vehicles allowing access to and from the hill and continued working.

Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract: Paul Landacre Exhibit, Pasadena Museum Of California Art

Print: Paul Landacre, Sultry Day, 1937.  Landacre found inspiration in the neighborhood; Sultry Day depicts his wife and cat relaxing in their beloved home, with the intersection of Modjeska Ave & Peru St in the background.

 

Pasadena Museum of California Art

White on Black:

The Modernist Prints

of Paul Landacre

October 28, 2012 - February 24, 2013

 

Paul Landacre was the preeminent American wood-cut print artist of the 20th Century. Landacre's work reflected not only the character of the California landscape, but particularly in the 1930s; the character of his own Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract neighborhood in Echo Park/Elysian Heights from 1925 - 1963. 

 

The City of Los Angeles declared Landacre's cabin & grounds (including the trees and landscape) a cultural historic landmark in 2005.

 

Related: LA Times

The Eastsider

Echo Park Historical Society 

 

Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract: 6 More Proposed Homes Up For Environmental Review On Rosebud Ave

Photo: Diane Edwardson, February 9, 2012.  The 6 vacant lots in question are to the left (downslope) of the police activity on Rosebud Ave in the Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

 

Six vacant, adjacent, hillside lots (together totalling only 9,000 square feet) are under public environmental review for Zoning Administrator's Adjustment for reductions in front and sideyard setbacks for 6 new single family homes.    

 

They are legal lots, as they were cut in 1905.  The lots are at the hairpin turn at Peru and Rosebud, on the downslope side.  It's not just fire engines that have trouble making that turn.  Trash and delivery trucks, and even cars have trouble navigating that turn.

 

We have not yet reviewed the plans available for public review in

City Planning: (213) 978-1332. 

Case # ENV-2010-399-MND for 1943 Rosebud Ave. 

 

DEADLINE FOR PUBLIC COMMENT: October 1, 2012.

 

We first learned of the availability in the City Environmental Notices, buried in the Classifieds on page 6 of the LA Times Business Section, yesterday, August 30, 2012. 

 

The notice failed to mention the significantly sized, protected native trees on the lots.