Nov. Archives

November 2003

Benedict Canyon Storm Drain Project Underway - On November 3, 2003, construction began on the Leibe/Benedict Canyon Storm Drain expansion project at the southeast corner of Mulholland and Benedict Canyon Dr. in Sherman Oaks. Located in Council District 5 and the County's Third Supervisorial District, the project will be paid for through $1.2 million in flood-control funds allocated to Yaroslavsky's District. The work extends the existing storm drain by 4,300 feet down Benedict Canyon Drive, and while construction of the drain should be finished by February 2004, street reconstruction and water main replacement work will continue until project completion in November 2005.

"Strike Settled" - Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky (podium), Chairman of the MTA Board of Directors, announces a settlement in the crippling transit strike that stranded more than 400,000 transit riders and inconvenienced hundreds of thousands of Southland commuters for 35 days from October 14-November 17, 2003. It was the the third-longest transit strike the region had seen. Joining Yaroslavsky around the podium to announce the tentative agreement with striking mechanics, from the left, are fellow MTA Board members and Los Angeles City Councilmembers Antonio Villaraigosa and Martin Ludlow (behind, conferring with mechanics' union president Neil Silver); Councilmember Tom LaBonge (behind Yaroslavsky); Supervisor Gloria Molina; Supervisor Mike Antonovich (behind Molina); Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke; and Supervisor Don Knabe. (11/17/03)

Yaroslavsky Announces Approval of Zoning Change to Limit Development on West Los Angeles Veterans Administration Property - Capping a year-long effort to limit potential commercial development in the West Los Angeles Veterans Administration area, Supervisor Yaroslavsky noted final approval on November 18, 2003 of a zoning ordinance updating regulations implementing the County's General Plan relating to the Sawtelle Zoned District No. 124. Yaroslavsky asked in a February 4, 2003 motion for the Director of Planning and the Regional Planning Commission to initiate a zoning study of the Veterans Administration and Army Reserve properties in West Los Angeles and recommend any changes to ensure that further private development in the area is sensitive to and compatible with surrounding neighborhoods. All federal lands in West Los Angeles are in unincorporated County territory. They are therefore subject to County land use regulations if and when the federal government decides to privatize any or all of these properties. On May 15, 2003, Regional Planning sent back its WLA VA zoning progress report, and in July 2003, the Regional Planning Commission forwarded its recommended Sawtelle Zoned District zone changes. After a zone change public hearing before the Board on August 26, 2003, the Board ordered up the final zoning ordinance that was subsequently approved.

"Let's Roll" - Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky (left) and MTA Deputy Director John Catoe catch an early bus ride down Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood to welcome transit riders back on board on the morning after settlement of the 35-day transit strike, the region's third-longest. (11/18/03)