… and we won’t quit either. Apologies for the late notice, but what is a routine motion from our Councilwoman to move the Board of Transportation Commission’s decision through the Transportation Committee (to evaluate public beach parking lot #731 as a potential parking and transportation hub for Venice while considering lot #701 for housing) now seems to be attracting the opposition as they see an opportunity to continue to challenge the City’s final decision.
There is a meeting tomorrow of the Transportation and Public Works Committees:
Wednesday, February 12th
Room 401 City Hall
200 North Spring Street, LA 90012
8:30AM
It would be amazing if you could be there with us to comment and show your support of Traci’s motion, Item #3 and support her request for a feasibility analysis of the BOTC’s recommendation. Please email safecoastaldevelopment@gmail.com if you’d like to join us.
If you can’t attend- it’s urgent to submit a comment NOW in order for it to be counted before tomorrow’s 8:30AM Meeting!
Please comment through this link:
Council File # 15-1138-S42
https://cityclerk.lacity.org/publiccomment/?cfnumber=15-1138-S42
Here’s an email you can cut and paste to the council file (feel free to make changes or additions). It’s not possible to use a one-click since authorization is required that you are not a robot and you will receive an email confirmation once you comment. You must respond to that confirmation for your email to be posted, please be on the lookout for it!
Re. Special Joint Meeting of City Transportation and Public Works Committees
Wednesday, February 12, 2025, 8:30 am
Agenda Item 3, Council File 15-1138-S42
Honorable City Transportation and Public Works Committee members,
I strongly support the motion to 1) determine the steps needed to create a cohesive parking lot and mobility hub, inclusive of car share, bike share, micro-mobility, shuttle service, transit store, etc., on LADOT Parking Lot 731, and 2) determine the feasibility of developing affordable housing on LADOT Parking Lot 701, as presented in the December 10, 2024 Department of Transportation (DOT) report and unanimously approved by the Board of Transportation Commissioners (BOTC) on December 10, 2024.
I’m in full support of the detailed, impressive recommendations made by the City’s DOT officials to the BOTC and with the BOTC Commissioners’ deliberation, findings, and approval decision made to preserve Venice Beach public parking Lot 731 for expansion of public parking/transit hub and to consider Lot 701 for affordable housing units.
The BOTC Commissioners were clear that the original project was a faulty, costly plan and not workable. The BOTC’s principled decision is widely supported in the Community and assures all Angelenos and visitors will have continued and enhanced access to Venice Beach and the Historic Venice Canals. A plan that considers all Angelenos while still providing much needed housing on Lot 701 (directly adjacent to Lot 731) is a plan we can all stand behind and support.
The City’s Administrative Code makes it clear that the BOTC has the sole authority over the acquisition, sale, management and maintenance of all city-owned parking places. Whether or not to change the use of Lot 731 from parking to something else, including affordable housing, and the acquisition of a new parking facility are both matters solely within the initial jurisdiction of the BOTC and their decision is only changeable if the City Council disagrees and wants to reconsider the BOTC decision, requiring a ⅔ vote. That did not happen by the deadline and the BOTC decision is final.
Previous City Council approval was based on misinformation from past Councilman Mike Bonin, who deemed Lot 731 to be “underutilized” for purposes of allowing its disposition in the Affordable Housing Opportunity Sites program, yet in a 2019 motion to DOT he admitted: “This lot is heavily used by the public to access recreational opportunities at Venice Beach…” The latter has always been true and must be acknowledged. Repeated steps to Council for the prior project were required to fix incorrect information. Moreover, the Council did not approve the significant changes in the plans including substantially fewer units and the desecration of the 114-year-old federal and state designated historic bridge, designed by the original creator of Venice to bring all visitors to Venice.
Venice Beach, the number one tourist destination in Los Angeles is the people’s beach and should always be accessible to all. I encourage the Transportation and Public works committees to move forward with this motion quickly and look forward to seeing the work of our City departments as they move towards providing much needed visitor-serving parking/transit hub on Lot 731 and affordable housing on the more practical site of Lot 701.
Sincerely,
Your voice matters as we know the opposition is out in force, so please comment now!
FYI, here’s Traci Park’s Motion asking for the study of what was approved at Transportation Commission:
Thank you for continuing to stand up for Venice!
With Appreciation-
The Team at Safe Coastal Development