July Newsbites

***BAHA’s Annual Members’ Meeting***  The annual members’ meeting of BAHA was held on Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in the auditorium of the Roscomare Road Elementary School. Katy Yaroslavsky, Councilmember for District 5, gave an update on matters of interest to our community, including the proposed Wildlife Ordinance, fire insurance, crime, and traffic on Roscomare and took questions from the audience for an extended time. At the request of a Board member, our Councilwoman has agreed to meet with a BAHA representative and/or participate in a BAHA Wildlife Ordinance Town Hall when the revised Wildlife Ordinance is released by the Planning Department (no release date has been disclosed yet).  

Metro sent a representative, who gave an overview of Metro’s congestion pricing study. Roscomare Road is one of the Santa Monica Mountain roads with heavy commuter traffic between the San Fernando Valley and the Los Angeles basin that is being studied for potential congestion pricing at some point in the future, but considerably more study and legislation changes would need to take place before congestion pricing might be implemented. 
 
Since the number of nominees for the Board of Directors for the 2024-2025 term was not more than the number of Board members to be elected, the proposed nominees were declared elected. The following is the list of the new Board members for the 2024-2025 term:

1.      Robin Greenberg
2.      Inta Kipper
3.      Richard Kipper
4.      Jacob Lipa
5.      Charlie McAndrew
6.      Kristina Moot
7.      Andrew Paden
8.      Patricia Templeton
9.      Isabel Wintroub

***BAHA Members’ Party***  On Thursday evening, June 13, from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm., BAHA members met at the new Ava Kro restaurant (in the commercial center across from the old Bel Air market) to enjoy community time with old and new friends and neighbors. Following social time with wine and varied gourmet hors d'oeuvres (assorted cheese platter, summer salad, couscous salad, spinach dip), members enjoyed a delicious dinner of Swedish meat balls, chicken Milanese, roasted veggies and mashed potatoes. The evening ended with a rich Swedish chocolate cake. Because it was such an enjoyable evening for all, the Board is considering having more such gatherings at Ava Kro. By the way, Ava Kro participates in BAHA’s vendor discount program; BAHA members receive a 15% discount when dining there (don’t forget to bring your BAHA membership card for the discount).

***New PreSchool at the old Bel Air Market Site***  Canyon Crest PreSchool will be opening in the Fall of 2024 at the site of the former Bel Air Market on Roscomare Road. Canyon Crest will enroll children 18 months - 5 years old, with Caregiver and Me classes coming soon. More information can be found on their website at:

https://canyoncrestpreschool.com , and you can contact them at
[email protected] or 310-903-6091

***Fire Awareness***  We are coming into the hot, dry, fire season. While we live in a beautiful area, it is also an area that has been designated as a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone and has a history of major wildfires. LAFD has posted a fascinating documentary on the 1961 Bel Air Fire to its YouTube page and it’s definitely worth the watch – the documentary is vintage 1962 (and worth watching for that reason alone!)  but the information it contains is still relevant today and we’re pretty sure you will learn things you didn’t know. Watch it HERE. 

The combination of this winter’s heavy rains, which increased brush and grass growth, and unusually hot temperatures have increased the already high fire danger in our area. Please check your hillsides to see if they need a second brush clearance. Although LAFD does brush clearance compliance checks in May, compliance is a year-round requirement which helps to increase the chances that you, your neighbors and your homes survive a fire. If you need a reminder of what a fire can do to our neighborhood, watch the documentary!

Also, please be careful to observe the “No Smoking” signs at both entrances to Roscomare Road and ask visitors and construction crews coming into the area to please cooperate with that mandate as well.

***Stop Sign at Roscomare and Verano*** Recently, the southbound stop sign at Roscomare Road and Verano Road was illegally removed (apparently, it was in the way of some construction work, so the construction people removed it!).  As soon as BAHA was notified of this matter, it notified the City and LADOT came out the same day to put in a temporary stop sign. They said that they would install a new permanent sign by early the next week. However, the next day the permanent sign had been installed. Sometimes the City does work efficiently!

***Upcoming Events at Local Venues*** For those who might be interested, here are some events at local venues:

1. From the Botanical Garden at UCLA 

“We would like to cordially invite you and your community to our upcoming public programs. Take a twilight stroll along our newly beautified stream at Third Thursdays, our summer event series. Enjoy live music and a wine bar after-hours in the Garden on 7/18, 8/15, and 9/19 from 5-7 p.m. 

We have monthly drop-in guided tours on the first Saturday of each month at 10 a.m. Join our Garden Guides for a free 1-hour adventure where you'll meet plants from all over the world!

We will welcome the new season with our Fall Fest on 10/19 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. We'll have food, music, and horticultural activities. More details TBA. This event is free and open to the public. 

You can see our upcoming events here.

2. From the TreePeople

“Summertime at TreePeople is back! All summer long, we are bringing our favorite musicians, comedians, movies and more to the S. Mark Taper Foundation Amphitheatre stage at our very own Coldwater Canyon Park. We’ll be announcing new programming throughout the summer in our monthly DIG IN newsletter as well as special email only on-sales! To see TreePeople’s full calendar of summer events visit treepeople.org/events. 

July 11 - Screening: Selena 
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July 14 - Concert: Pearl Charles
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July 19 - Concert: Niia
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July 20 - Screening: FernGully - The Last Rainforest
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