LOS ANGELES CITY HALL JOURNAL

A summary of significant Los Angeles City Hall decisions affecting the Westside in the last week.

CITY COUNCIL

ILLEGAL FIREWORKS: Approved closing a portion of Mulholland Drive between Encino Hills Drive and Canoga Avenue in the Santa Monica Mountains on July 4 to prevent injuries and property damage caused by illegal fireworks.

STREET CLOSURE: Approved closing a portion of Wallingford Drive near Benedict Canyon Drive to the public at the request of the property owners. The owners are responsible for erecting a gate at the entrance, posting signs and acquiring liability insurance.

PISANI PROTEST: Scheduled a hearing Aug. 14 for those opposing the city’s intention to close Pisani Place between Venice Boulevard and Amoroso Court in Venice. The city says it no longer needs the short walkway for public use. Protesters say they use it to get to Venice Boulevard. The Department of Transportation plans to use the site as a parking lot.

AIRPORT APPOINTMENT: Approved the appointment of Leland Wong to the Board of Airport Commissioners. The term ends June 30, 1993.

FESTIVAL: Approved the temporary closing of Degnan Boulevard between 43rd Street and 43rd Place and 43rd Street between Leimert Boulevard and Crenshaw Boulevard on Sunday and on July 5 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. for the annual Kidogoo Maat Festival and African Market Place.

HISTORICAL STUDY: Authorized spending $50,000 for a firm to identify buildings and areas that have cultural, historic, architectural and aesthetic importance for a proposed Historical Preservation Overlay Zone in the Beverly Fairfax area.

GREEK THEATER: Approved spending $39,000 to pay for Department of Recreation and Parks employees’ overtime to provide traffic control at the Greek Theater from May to October, 1991.

CITY PLANNING COMMISSION

MOM and POP: Gave preliminary approval to a commercial zone change that will limit the number and types of restaurants and financial offices on Larchmont Boulevard between 1st Street and Beverly Boulevard. The action is intended to allow the street to keep its neighborhood character, which has existed since the 1940s, of mom and pop stores. The City Council must give final approval before sending the matter to the mayor.

ARTS, HEALTH AND HUMANITIES COMMITTEE

FARMERS MARKET: Approved a recommendation from the Cultural Heritage Commission to designate the Farmers Market, 3rd Street and Fairfax Avenue, as a historic-cultural monument. The committee modified the request by only allowing the food stalls and the one-story brick Gilmore Adobe as historical monuments. The City Council must make a final ruling.

BOARD OF RECREATION AND PARKS COMMISSIONERS

LIBRARY PROPOSAL: The board took no action on a request from the Department of Library Commissioners to consider the construction of a 10,500-square-foot branch library at Barnsdall Park. Commissioners say they are willing to discuss building the library there, however, if the library commissioners choose it as a site for the new Los Feliz Branch library. The Recreation and Parks staff has recommended against the site. The community is divided on the library’s location. Options are: construction at the Barnsdall site, having the library remain at its rented storefront at 1939 1/2 Hillhurst Ave., and building on land next to the rented site.

FUND-RAISING: Endorsed the Baldwin Neighborhood Homeowner’s Assn.’s concept of raising $1 million to help construct a new community building at Baldwin Hills Recreation Center.

ZOO VET: Approved a contract for a second veterinarian for the Los Angeles Zoo. The vet will be paid hourly. The pay is not to exceed $40,000 annually. The regular veterinarian was injured during a May 14 accident at the zoo and has been unable to return to work.

HOW WESTSIDE COUNCIL MEMBERS VOTED

HAZARDOUS WASTE: Approved spending $50,000 to co-sponsor with private industry a roundup of household hazardous waste products, including pesticides, paints and motor oil. The money will pay for overtime for city employees working during 10 citywide events, with the first one planned for July 13 at the Union Oil Co. of California Refinery in Wilmington.

VOTING YES: Marvin Braude, Ruth Galanter, Michael Woo and Zev Yaroslavsky.

TREE TRIMMING: Approved a proposal to trim 250 trees throughout the city that obstruct street lighting. The work will be done by private contractors, and the cost is not expected to exceed $70,000.

VOTING YES: Braude, Galanter, John Ferraro, Nate Holden, Joel Wachs, Woo and Yaroslavsky.

APPOINTMENT: Approved the appointment of Linda Griego as a commissioner on the Community Redevelopment Agency Board. Griego replaces Larry Kirk, who resigned. The term ends Nov. 4, 1994.

VOTING YES: Braude, Galanter, Ferraro, Holden, Woo, Yaroslavsky.

TASK FORCE: Approved the formation of a task force to develop a policy for publishing official notices, primarily in newspapers, and controlling how much money is spent annually on them. The group, which will be headed by the city clerk, will report on a plan in nine months to the mayor and the council. The projected expenditures for 1990-91 for publishing official notices are estimated at $917,000.

VOTING YES: Braude, Galanter, Ferraro, Holden, Woo, Yaroslavsky.