July Newsbites

***Happy 4th of July*** The Board of Directors of the Bel Air Hills Association wishes its members and all of the residents a very happy and safe 4th of July.

***Ridgeline Protection Ordinance*** In the June issue of Newsbites, information on the Ridgeline Protection Ordinance was provided together with a discussion of potential adverse effects to portions of the BAHA neighborhood.  Following is the link to the information on the Ordinance:   Proposed Land Use Regulations | Los Angeles City Planning (lacity.org). Type “ridgeline” into the search box or scroll down until in the left column you see Ridgeline Protection Ordinance.  On June 27, BAHA issued a news Alert to inform the neighborhood of the significance of the Ordinance and what you can do to take action. Please go to https://www.baha.la to see a copy of the news Alert. On June 29, BAHA issued a follow-up news Alert stating that the deadline for the comment period had been extended to August 2nd. The email addresses you need for your comment letters are in the BAHA Alert dated June 27th.

***Redistricting LA Meetings*** The Los Angeles City Council Redistricting Commission (LACCRC) is holding Public Hearings to provide residents the opportunity to talk about their “communities of interest”, a fundamental component of drawing new Council District boundaries. The public hearing for CD5 is proposed for Wednesday, July 7th at 6 p.m. in a virtual format.  
For information on Redistricting please go to: redistricting2021.lacity.org/LACCRC
To RSVP for the July 7th event, please email: [email protected]

***Fire Season is Here - Prepare Your Community*** Scientific research has new information to assist us and our communities in being more prepared. On Wednesday July 14th at 5pm please join a web based Presentation by TreePeople to learn the latest. Thanks to Bel Air Beverly Crest Neighborhood Council for arranging this presentation to benefit all of us. Join at:  Tiny.cc/BABCNCTownHall or by phoning (669) 900 6844 or (888) 475 4499 and entering webinar ID 844 9352 3432.

***Roscomare Road Resurfacing*** For quite some time, Newsbites has been informing the neighborhood of BAHA’s efforts for the City to repair the hazardous road condition near 2613 and 2619 Roscomare Road.  BAHA is pleased to report that the dangerous raised asphalt has finally been removed and the street has been repaved between Hamner and the school.  BAHA is thankful to Councilman Koretz for his office’s financial contribution to StreetsLA and to his staff for their sustained efforts, both of which were needed to get this work done.

***Additional Road Repair Work*** While the road repair work discussed above was a welcomed event, several other streets in Bel Air Hills require road repair and/or resurfacing to put them in safe and good condition.  One such example is near the 2700 block of Roscomare Road.  BAHA has worked diligently on that problem and tried to get it combined with the work just completed at 2613/2619 since it is so close to 2700.   BAHA will continue its efforts, and is hopeful it may happen in the later part of this new fiscal year, but the more residents that file complaints and requests, the greater the possibility of getting the City to act.  Road repair work, including pothole repairs, should be reported by either calling 311, or going online to https://myla311.lacity.org.  Also, it would be helpful to inform BAHA of the precise location for which a complaint or request was made.  Please send the information to [email protected].  Thank you.

***SB 9 and SB 10*** These are two bills in the State Legislature that would impact the neighborhoods of single-family homes.  Some of the provisions would preempt local zoning laws.  SB 9 seems the more applicable to Bel Air Hills.  It basically provides that a single-family lot can be developed with a duplex. And that any lot can be split if both new halves meet the minimum lot size for the neighborhood. So, what is next to you now could become 2 or 4 residences, on both sides of your house.  SB 10 may not apply to Bel Air Hills due to its designation as a high fire risk zone.

The texts of the bills can be read at https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB9 and https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB10. To let the local representatives know how you feel about these measures, go to   https://a50.asmdc.org and https://sd26.senate.ca.gov. You will be able to simply email your position to them. 

***Speeding on Roscomare Road*** Recently, another serious accident occurred on Roscomare Road when a speeding driver failed to navigate a curve in the road.  Unfortunately, there have been numerous other serious accidents on Roscomare Road caused by speeding drivers.  Roscomare Road is still basically a neighborhood street, even though the traffic navigation apps use it as an alternative to the 405 Freeway.  Despite repeated efforts by BAHA’s Traffic Committee to get more police presence to slow speeders and monitor stop signs, due to LAPD’s lack of resources, little has been done.  Nevertheless, it is incumbent upon all residents of Bel Air Hills to set a good example by driving at safe and reasonable speeds on Roscomare Road (and, of course, on any of the side streets).  Many young families are moving into our area, making it even more important to remember that our streets are shared with neighbors of all ages.  It’s your/our neighborhood!  

***Email Addresses*** The residents that receive Newsbites and BAHA  Alerts are those residents for which BAHA has email addresses.  BAHA only uses email addresses to alert residents of information that is important to the community or to convey alerts and important news to members.  If you know of residents who are not receiving Newsbites or BAHA Alerts, please encourage them to send their email addresses to [email protected] (and also to include the street address so that the email address can be properly associated).  It is to everyone’s best interest that BAHA be able to communicate with all neighbors.  Thank you.