Adopted Positions

Motion

Refers to City Council file 21-0929

Regarding Council File 21-0929 (Buscaino/Koretz):  [_____ NC/CC]  supports the proposed resolution for the City Council to prohibit sitting, lying, sleeping, or storing, using, maintaining, or placing personal property, in or upon any street, sidewalk, or other public rights-of-way within a radius of 500 feet from all schools listed in Attachment A to the Council File; and further, upon adoption of the resolution, for the City Council to direct the Department of Transportation to post signs giving notice of the restrictions in the radius specified.

[_____ NC/CC]  also requests that the definition of “radius” be clarified to specify a radius of 500 feet from the exterior boundary lines of the schools listed in Attachment A to the Council File.

Motion

Motion

Motion

The Westside Regional Alliance of Councils calls on the Los Angeles City Council and Mayor Eric Garcetti to immediately direct the Los Angeles City Bureau of Sanitation (“LA Sanitation”) to undertake site clean-ups, trash collection, and sanitizing of all homeless encampments located in the neighborhoods represented by WRAC on the Westside of Los Angeles, in order to abate, correct, and remove hazardous, unsafe, unhealthy, and unsanitary conditions at all homeless encampments forthwith.

Motion

The Westside Regional Alliance of Councils (WRAC) strongly echos the sentiments expressed by numerous elected officials, neighborhood organizations, community groups, business associations, and many local citizens who urge that Metro must include a Station located directly on the UCLA campus as part of this pivotal transportation corridor project — specifically a one-seat ride from the San Fernando Valley directly to UCLA, hewing to Metro’s original proposal which suggested a 16-minute travel time for that segment, the fastest connection between the Valley and Westside and one that directly links people to where they want to go. This would be one of the most heavily trafficked Metro stops in the State, and would be the busiest non-transfer station in Metro’s system.

The Sepulveda Transit Corridor Project is part of the Measure M expenditure plan, with approximately $5.7 billion for new transit service to connect the San Fernando Valley and the Westside, scheduled to open by 2033-35. Approximately $3.8 billion is allocated to extend that service from the Westside to LAX with a 2057-59 opening date.

Metro is making strides to improve travel between the San Fernando Valley, the Westside and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The natural barrier created by the Santa Monica Mountains means that most people traveling between these areas are funneled primarily onto the I-405 Freeway, already ranked as one of the most heavily congested urban highways in the nation. More than 400,000 people travel through this area every day to commute to work, school, and other destinations along the freeway and beyond.

Having a Metro Station located directly on the UCLA campus would also help transport the tens of thousands of individuals who travel to UCLA on a daily -basis, including: UCLA students, staff, faculty, medical personnel, patients, and campus visitors.

Not having a Metro Station on the UCLA Campus would be a sorely missed opportunity, and have significant negative impacts on the West L.A. region and regional traffic congestion for decades to come. An on-campus UCLA Station also presents the opportunity to connect the Sepulveda Transit Corridor Project to the Metro Purple Line Subway Station Extension, which will have a Westwood/UCLA Station located at Wilshire & Westwood Boulevards.  Additionally, without a one-seat ride to the Valley, ridership would be significantly hindered, thereby negatively impacting Metro’s farebox recovery needs.

To provide this essential connectivity between transit lines in the San Fernando Valley and the City, to provide the critical “first mile, last mile” link between the Wilshire Purple Line Subway and the UCLA campus, and to build a robust transportation system that will serve transit riders for many decades to come, we also urge the Metro Board to ensure that the Sepulveda Transit Corridor Project also connect directly from the on-campus UCLA Station to the Westwood/UCLA Purple Line Subway Station at Wilshire Boulevard, to connect these two major north-south and east-west transit corridors.

Motion

WHEREAS businesses referred to as “cloud kitchens” or “ghost kitchens” represent a fairly new form of commerce and land use concept, and,

WHEREAS this new business model has the potential to create significant impacts on neighboring business and residential communities, and

WHERAS the City of Los Angeles has not established a specific zoning classification for such businesses, thus creating potential inconsistencies, uncertainty and lack of transparency for applicants, City staff, and those seeking to review these proposed projects, and

WHEREAS the absence of clear classification for cloud/ghost kitchens can result in some being treated as commercial and/or retail uses, while others may be grouped as light manufacturing, and WHEREAS none of these classifications accurately captures the true nature of these operations, and

WHEREAS cloud kitchen/ghost kitchens are being established in many areas across the City of Los Angeles,

Therefore, be it moved that the Westside Regional Alliance of Councils (WRAC) requests that the City, represented by our Council District, PLUM, the City Council, in coordination with the Departments of Planning and Building and Safety:

—- define what constitutes a Cloud/ghost kitchen, including possible different categories of such operations based upon numbers of kitchens and/or square footage involved,

—-identify criteria for the evaluation of their applications for buildout and permitting, including a process to evaluate potential impacts on their surroundings (noise, odor, traffic and requirements pertaining to factors

—-assess needed infrastructure (adequacy of electric service to area), parking and/or loading zones,

WRAC  believes that providing this needed clarification will remove uncertainties as and contribute to the establishment of successful enterprises by creating the structure needed to guide the city’s review and decision-making process

Motion

Further Letter 11/10/21

The Westside Regional Alliance of Councils calls on the Los Angeles City Council and Mayor Eric Garcetti to direct the Los Angeles Police Department and the Department of Public Works’ Bureau of Engineering Street Services Division, as well as the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, and the Department of Veterans Affairs to direct the Veterans Affairs Police Department and other relevant law enforcement agencies to enforce all existing, enforceable laws prohibiting the blockage of the public right of way on the Westside of Los Angeles, including all applicable provisions of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA).

Motion

Further Letter 11/10/21

The Westside Regional Alliance of Councils calls on the Los Angeles City Council and Mayor Eric Garcetti to direct the Los Angeles Police Department and other relevant law enforcement agencies to enforce all existing, enforceable laws prohibiting the sale and distribution of illegal drugs, human trafficking, and other serious crimes taking place in or near homeless encampments on the Westside of Los Angeles.

Motion

Refers to City Council file 12-0460-S4

(_______________Neighborhood/Community Council) requests that the Los Angeles City Council postpone consideration of Council File #12-0460-S4 (the Processes and Procedures Amendment to the City Charter) for a minimum of six months in order to enable further community presentations and feedback. The document in this file, including technical amendments and attachments, are over 900 pages. To date there have been approximately 3 meetings of 1.5 hours each for the Department of Planning to summarize this extensive document and receive limited feedback. Further, “technical amendments” were made prior to the PLUM committee’s June 1 consideration which incorporated more than just technical changes and that need review and feedback. The language supporting the Neighborhood Councils’ charter-given authority to hold public hearings and provide public comment and feedback concerning matters of land use must be restored to the Processes and Procedures Amendment sections to ensure it complies with the Los Angeles City Charter and the specific authority it grants to Neighborhood Councils. The community engagement has been insufficient to conduct a full review of the substantial changes involving land use authority and procedures. Further we encourage that the Los Angeles City Council obtain Cumis counsel (independent counsel) to review the document in its entirety to ensure that no transfer of City Council authority occurs as a result of this document and that final decision regarding land use matters remains with the City Council pursuant to the City Charter. There are numerous instances where authority appears to be vested in the Director of Planning, an unelected official, which may be in violation of the City Charter.

Motion

The Westside Regional Alliance of Councils requests that the city of Los Angeles improves signage in electric vehicle charging locations to discourage non-charging vehicles (both ICE and EVs) from parking there.  It further requests that the city issue a warning ticket and subsequent fine to any vehicle owners who repeatedly park in these spots illegally once adequate signage is installed.