Rose Scharlin Nursery School: Hullabaloo Saturday October 28, 2017

Rose Scharlin Co-op Nursery School is a Red Car Property neighbor since 1946.  They're hosting their annual children's Halloween Party Saturday, October 28, 2017, 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM. 

According to the flyer and their outreach to the neighborhood, the school will secure a "no parking/loading zone" directly in front of the school for the day of the party.  There is NO PARKING on the Red Car Property.  The school did the same thing for the past couple of years.  According to neighbors, it is a better system than the mayhem that used to ensue from the parking situation on Lake View and the Red Car Property.  (The Red Car Property is not a park, nor a public roadway.  It is private property.)

Please remember to SLOW DOWN while driving the neighborhood as there will be many more children than usual on the neighborhood streets.

If you live within walking distance of Rose Scharlin and have children in heading for preschool in the coming years, we strongly encourage you to consider sending your kids to Rose Scharlin. Until the 2000's, it was a true neighborhood nursery school, with only a few parents dropping off kids by car.  We'd like to see a majority of neighbors join the Rose Scharlin Family again.

After a lapse of 28 years, the school secured their Conditional Use Permit for Rose Scharlin.  It was issued by City Planning February 1, 2017.

Red Car Property: Abandoned Squatters' Camp Used Again Last Night

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, August 13, 2017. Neighbors are fed up by the Red Car Property owner's failure to pick up the debris left behind after the squatters vacated their camp.  These photos and email (excerpted here) are from one of many concerned neighbors contacted CD13 and LAPD.  "Someone slept again last night on the old Red Car squatters encampment - I know because they left a new red blanket and new trash (see pics)."

The camp was established by a couple of squatters, mid-June.  Neighbors reported it immediately and constantly for the past few months to CD13 and LAPD.  A few weeks ago, neighbors reported the camp abandoned by the couple of squatters who had been driving a white car to and from their camp near Rose Scharlin Nursery School on a daily basis. 

Neighbors raised the concern that so much debris left behind will only attract new inhabitants.  "Does the owner really want to leave an open invitation for squatters to come live, sleep, and trash his property?"

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, August 13, 2017.  Pictured here: dry brush right next to the campsite.  Neighbors continue raising the alarm over brush clearance.  Out of self-interest, a few neighbors cleared some of the slopes near their own homes.  "I see the [brush] clearance is still not completed, or even started (Rose Scharlin did their own hill themselves rather than wait)."  

Considering the number of cigarette butts discarded in and around the camp, neighbors are justified in their alarm.  "This is a danger to the whole neighborhood, especially with smoking squatters sleeping there."  The neighbor continues, "Does our whole neighborhood have to go up in flames before someone enforces the Brush Clearance ordinance!?!  Has LAFD even inspected this negligent property that is putting our neighborhood at risk for a catastrophic fire?"  Yes, LAFD has cited the owner several times this year.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, August 13, 2017.  Adding insult to injury, last night's homeless left new bags of trash.

Click here for all our squatter related posts. 

Follow us on Twitter for more timely updates on the squatter camp and brush clearance.

Note: We're playing catch up for the month of August. This was post was actually published 8-26-17 and backdated to the date the photos were shot and originally published on Twitter.

Red Car Property: Abandoned Squatters' Camp In Use Again

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, August 11, 2017.  More than one neighbor reported someone slept in the recently vacated squatters' camp last night.  A CD13 representative and LAFD Brush Inspector told the property owner to remove the abandoned debris.  LAFD Senior Lead Officer Lenny Davis told the owner he would arrange for an officer to be on site when the owner removes the debris in case of any misunderstandings with squatters. 

Note: We're playing catch up for the month of August. This was post was actually published 8-24-17 and backdated to the date the photo was shot and originally published on Twitter.

Red Car Property: Owner's No Trespassing Signs Not Deterring Squatters

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, July 11, 2017.  Neighbors are increasingly frustrated with the month-old campsite on the Red Car Property, near Rose Scharlin Nursery School.  The squatters go to great lengths to hide their camp with dry brush colored umbrella and dry bamboo screening.  They drive in and out of the property in a white 4-door car.  

Neighbors report cigarette butts strewn around perimeter of the camp as well.  With the rash of fires in Elysian Park in the past two weeks, is there any wonder why neighbors are nervous.  These squatters appear to be the same couple removed from the Red Car Property by the owner several years ago. They were also associated with an ongoing problem at, or around, the squatter camp in a house on Riverside Drive that backed into the Red Car Property.

The Red Car Property owner needs to take responsibility for this nuisance.  While there may be a trespass order on file with the LAPD, the property owner has to call the overworked LAPD while the squatters are present and wait for LAPD to arrive to remove them.  Or the property owner can take their own steps to remove the squatters, keeping in mind that could be a potentially dangerous thing to do without LAPD present.

Send your concerns questions and complaints regarding the Red Car Property to hector.vega@lacity.org.  Be sure to include your name, street address and phone number.  If you see fire or smoke rising from this site, or are physically threatened by these squatters, call 911 immediately and be prepared to give dispatch directions to the site from Riverside Drive to India Street (east of the Red Car Property) and south toward Rose Scharlin.

Red Car Property: "Broken Windows" Attract Homeless Camp

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, June 27, 2017.  A bunch of railroad ties have been collecting behind a home on Riverside Place near Rose Scharlin Co-op Nursery School.  Whether this is a failed home improvement project or just plain illegal dumping, it's an eyesore and a fire hazard.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, June 27, 2017.  For several weeks, neighbors have been calling and emailing CD13's Hector Vega and the LAPD, asking them to enforce the no trespassing order.  Neighbors are concerned about the fire risk on the property yet to be cleared of dry brush.  

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, June 27, 2017.  Yes, that's a pile of dried out bamboo screening atop a mattress beneath a large umbrella and other debris hidden daily by the squatters on the Red Car Property.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, June 27, 2017.  Let's see, what came first, the dumping or the homeless camp.  If you said the dumping, you're right.  Although, it does appear some of the railroad ties have been moved around and some brush clearance adjacent to the fence was done since Saturday.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor June 22, 2017.  LAPD has long advocated fixing the "broken windows" in neighborhoods because it only gets worse, attracting new problems as time goes on.  This activity is occurring on the Red Car Property.  Neighbors have done their part reporting it to authorities. CD13 notified the Red Car Property owner as soon as they began receiving complaints from multiple neighbors, two weeks ago.  The property owner has failed to do brush clearance, failed to restrict vehicle access to the property and failed to remove the squatters from the property.  It's up to the Red Car Property owner to take responsibility for what occurs on the property.

Neighbors should call the police 1-877-ASK-LAPD and report suspicious activity on the Red Car Property.  You will need to remind them there is a no trespassing order on file with  LAPD Northeast.  You will also need to describe how to get there.  For instance, this site is on the Red Car Property SOUTH of India Street between the end of Riverside Place and Rose Scharlin Nursery School. 

Send your questions, comments and complaints about the Red Car Property to CD13's Hector.Vega@lacity.org
 

Red Car Property: Homeless Adding Furniture

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, June 18, 2017.  The homeless camp on the Red Car Property behind Rose Scharlin Nursery School is expanding with furniture.

Red Car Property: Settling In

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, June 17, 2017.  Red Car Property is not approved for camping uses.  Neighbors have notified CD13 who sent email to Red Car Property owner regarding the camp site near Rose Scharlin Nursery School.

Red Car Property: Spot The Homeless Camp

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, June 15, 2017. Neighbors discovered a blue tent pitched among the bushes on the Red Car Property near Rose Scharlin Nursery School today.  Just past the pile of railroad ties dumped on the property behind a home on Riverside Place.  (Click on photos to enlarge.) 

One neighbor heard voices coming from inside the tent this morning.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, June 15, 2017.  Neighbors from Corralitas Drive, Riverside Place and Lake View Ave texted and emailed photos to me and CD13 today.  Neighbors are concerned about the risk of fire since brush clearance has not been done.  Homes on this part of the Red Car Property are very close together.  There are still some dead and dying Eucalyptus trees in the background of this photo, as well as a stand of arundo.  

Neighbors are also concerned due to recent mail and package theft, as well as a general increase in property related crimes in the area.  When you call the police regarding anything on the privately owned Red Car Property, you need to tell LAPD dispatch there is an active  trespass order on file at the Northeast LAPD Station or they won't respond.

Send your concerns regarding brush clearance, homeless, partying, joyriding or any other issue on the Red Car Property to hector.vega@lacity.org in CD13. 

Red Car Property: New Year's Mudwatch, Rainfall Totals From 2 Storms In 2 Days

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.

Red Car Property: Mudwatch, Rainfall Totals

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, February 19, 2016.  Red Car Canyon Lake revived with a little less than an inch of light, but steady rain Wednesday into Thursday, this week.  The canyon was muddy, yet walkable this morning.  Considering it's been more than two weeks since our last measurable rainfall, that's a fair amount of water in the bottom of the canyon, one day after the rain.

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, February 19, 2016.  Similarly the trail was muddy, yet walkable, north of Rose Scharlin Nursery School.  

We're tracking rainfall totals in the Corralitas rain gauge...

February 17 - 18, 2016: 0.8"
Rain year* to date: 6.42"

*Normally, the "rain year" would have ended June 30.  However, this 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. 

Red Car Property In 2009: Dumping Repurposed Into Traffic Calming Device

Photo: Diane Edwardson, March 22, 2009.  Neighbors occasionally resort to creative ways to get the dumping picked up on the Red Car Property.  A couch was dumped near Rose Scharlin Co-op Nursery School in October 2008.  Months later, someone dragged it out into the middle of the pathway.  It was picked up a few days later.

Worth noting: we got a lot of rain in 2009.  The protected native Black Walnut Trees were super lush on either side of the trail. 

Lake Red Car In 2009: Need Sandbags? Know Where Stormwater Flows & Collects

Photo: Jonathan Vandiveer, February 17, 2009.  Lake Red Car is one of the vernal pools that reappears with almost every rain on the Red Car Property, between Lake View Ave and Riverside Place, just north of Rose Scharlin Nursery School.

It looks like we may be hit with another round of El Niño rain starting this weekend.  If you need sandbags, homeowners can get sandbags and sand at LA City Fire Stations.  Be sure to call before you go because not all stations have both sand and bags.  The City has an emergency alert and resource website: www.ElNinoLA.com.  You can find links to the LAFD station phone numbers there too.

If you are Red Car Property adjacent and missed the last big round of rain in 2011, you can search this blog for the routine problem areas on the Red Car Property by clicking on the following searches:

vernal pools
creek
mudwatch
(There is a lot of overlap in the searches because we never thought we'd still be doing a daily blog for the Red Car Property after 9 years.  Photos date back to 2005.)

Send us your rain related photos from the Red Car Property neighborhood: redcarproperty@gmail.com.  During this El Niño rainy season, we'll likely publish updates faster on Twitter than the blog.  Follow us on Twitter: @RedCarProperty

Rose Scharlin Co-Op Nursey School: Neighbors Given Admissions Priority

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.

Red Car Property: Mudwach Near Rose Scharlin

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, January 8, 2016.  Looks like someone has been driving through the mud on the Red Car Property.  (Click on photos to enlarge.) 

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, January 8, 2016.  The trail was muddy in all the usual places.  Stop driving through the Red Car Property.  You're only making the muddy sections wider.  

The Red Car Property is not a park, nor is it a public street right of way.  It's private property on which the owner has allowed pedestrian access.  Some vehicles are parked further north on the property with permission by the the Red Car Property owner.

Follow us on Twitter for more timely mudwatch updates during this El Niño rainy season:  @RedCarProperty

Red Car Canyon Lake: Dawn, Mudwatch

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, January 8, 2016.  This week's 4" of rain brought the vernal pools  back to Red Car Canyon.  Walk carefully and STOP DRIVING THROUGH THE RED CAR PROPERTY!  You're not helping.  

If neighbors really want to help - there are plenty of pieces of scrap concrete, bricks, pavers, logs and large rocks around the canyon area - place them along the edges of the canyon floor to create a walking path.  (Think of it as a workout.)  It's going to be a long muddy rainy season.  Take a look at some canyon photos from the last big rain year, 2005.

We'll be posting more mudwatch photos later today.  During this El Niño rainy season, we'll likely post updates on Twitter, faster than the blog.  Follow us on Twitter @RedCarProperty

Email us your storm related photos from the Red Car Property Neighborhood: redcarproperty@gmail.com   

Red Car Property: Joyriders Kicking Up Dust

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. 

Corralitas Drive: Circa 1948

Photo: Smith Family Archive, circa 1948.  Thanks to the Smith family, who built their house atop Corralitas Drive in 1938 for creating a record of our neighborhood's hillside development. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

If you're looking for a landmark, Rose Scharlin Co-op Nursery School is on Lake View Ave (obscured by the Eucalyptus trees), behind and below the youngest member of the Smith family. Then, as now, people valued trees near their homes.  Unfortunately, it makes it more challenging to match photos.

Click here for a view from Smith's backyard from 1938 to 2008.

Rose Scharlin's Conditional Use Permit to operate a school in the middle of a residential zone, will be on the agenda at the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council Governing Board, tomorrow.
 

Lake View Ave: No Parking For A Loading Zone, Saturday October 24, 2015, Rose Scharlin's Halloween Hullaballoo

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, October 22, 2015.  The City Dept of Transportation (DOT) posted No Parking 12 PM to 9 PM, Saturday Only, along the entire street frontage of Rose Scharlin Co-Op Nursery School, a total of 7 parking spaces on Lake View Ave.  (Click on photos to enlarge.) 

The school obtained a temporary no parking permit from the DOT for the street in front of their property, as any property owner can do.  

There is no parking allowed on the Red Car Property.  The Red Car Property is not a park, nor is it a public roadway.  It is private property. 

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, October 22, 2015.  Parking is only allowed on the east side of Lake View Ave, a designated Hillside Steet. Rose Scharlin is on the east side of the street.  Many homes in our neighborhood, built in the 1920s and 1930s, were built with just one off-street parking space.

Joy Pae, current board president of Rose Scharlin, explained in an email, setting aside the street adjacent the school's property was the best way to alleviate truck traffic during deliveries and, "During the event, that area will be used for drop off and pick up to encourage people to use services like Uber and to drop off their families then park farther away such as on Allesandro and Riverside."  

Pae will don a witch's hat and monitor the front of the school during the event to help keep things moving on Lake View. 

Red Car Property: Not A Park, It Just Looks Like One

Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 6, 2015.  The trees greened up quite nicely since the rain in September and October.  This is usually a January - March type scene.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Note: The dead Eucalyptus that fell in September is on the right side of the trail.  Eucalyptus is combustible all year round. 

Rose Scharlin Co-op Nursery School: Revised Proposed Conditional Use Permit At Neighborhood Council Meeting, Wed, Oct 14

*Update

Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 7, 2015.  Rose Scharlin Co-op Nursery School has been on Lake View Ave since 1946.  They've been operating a school in a residential zone without, and in direct violation of their last Conditional Use Permit (CUP) from the City for the last 28 years.  The school will present their revised proposed CUP to the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council this Wednesday. 

Silver Lake Neighborhood Council 

Urban Design & Preservation Advisory Committee

(SLNC UD&PAC)

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

6:30 PM 

Citibank Community Room

2450 Glendale Blvd 

Silver Lake 90039

Click here for agenda

The current proposed CUP is a compromise reached after a 4+ hour long meeting, outdoors on an extremely hot and humid day, between a number of neighbors and Rose Scharlin families and their consultant. 

*Changes include 2 fundraisers a year on the property; use of the property 8:30 am -  2:30pm, 3 days a week, until 4:30 PM or 5 PM, 2 days a week*; use of the property on one Saturday a month, every month; a second Saturday every other month; and potentially (due to the way it's now worded) up to 3 Saturdays a month in 3 of those months because of the fundraisers and graduation.  Limits on noise and amplified music still need some clarification for the "canyon effect."  

If you want to know more, attend the meeting.  

*Update 1PM: There seems to be some discrepancies in the 2 weekday afternoon, Saturday and fundraiser hours.  The devil is in the details.  The details are always important.