Pushing jobs, not condos, at Universal

NBC/Universal should drop plans to build nearly 3,000 housing units on its backlot, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said this week in a strongly-worded letter to studio chief Ron Meyer.

While Yaroslavsky has previously criticized the scale of the Evolution Plan, this is the first time he has pushed the studio to drop the housing component altogether. Doing so, he said, would better position Universal for a future in which it remains a strong entertainment industry contributor to the L.A. economy.

“Abandoning that portion of your plan would make long-term economic sense for this region by ensuring that Universal will remain a full-service motion picture and television production campus and a major contributor to our regional economy,” Yaroslavsky said in his letter.

Building some 2,900 condos, lofts, townhouses and apartments on 124 acres of Universal’s property would cut into the studio’s backlot and require relocation of its famed “Psycho” house.  It also would mean uprooting Wisteria Lane, the setting for “Desperate Housewives,” now in its final season, and Falls Lake, where movies including “Jaws” were shot.

Even without the housing element, the 20-year Evolution Plan remains a large-scale blueprint for how the studio proposes to grow on its 391-acre Universal City site.

The Entertainment Evolution portion of the plan calls for an improved studio tour, a 500-room hotel for CityWalk, upgraded movie theaters, restaurants and stores, and new theme park attractions. (Even as the Evolution Plan has been moving through the system, at least one big new attraction, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, has been announced, although it is not expected to open for several years.)

Meanwhile, the Studio District Evolution component of the plan includes more than 308,000 square feet of new production space, 437,000 square feet devoted to new production support facilities and nearly 500,000 square feet of new office space.

In his letter, Yaroslavsky said that those new elements, along with current operations, would create more than 34,000 permanent new jobs, whereas just building homes would yield only 2,600. And construction and construction-related jobs, he said, would still number about 15,000 without the housing component.

“In short, the expansion of the studio’s production facilities and related entertainment uses will produce far more economic benefit to our region than the apartments and condominiums that are proposed to be built under the Evolution Plan,” Yaroslavsky said.

In fact, he said, establishing a large new residential neighborhood just feet from an active entertainment studio and theme park would only worsen complaints about noise, and, in time, could force the studio to cut back on production. That, in turn, could lead to a loss of entertainment industry jobs: “None of us could possibly want such a result,” Yaroslavsky said.

The company said in a statement it would consider Yaroslavsky’s comments, along with those of community members, as part of the ongoing environmental review process. A final environmental impact report is now being prepared. That report, along with other permits, must be approved at multiple levels of city and county government before the Evolution Plan can move into action.

Richard Bogy, executive vice president of Communities United for Smart Growth, a coalition of neighborhood and business groups affected by the Universal plan, said Yaroslavsky’s letter to Meyer “really says everything that we agree with.”

Using Universal’s land to grow its entertainment businesses makes more sense than allowing it to be used for housing, Bogy said: “It’s valuable land to the entertainment industry.”

While questions remain about the overall project’s impact on infrastructure, transportation and traffic, Bogy said, dropping the home-building plan would go a long way toward assuaging his group’s concerns.

“The one really big stumbling block in the plan,” he said, “has been the housing.”

Posted 2/1/12

It’s time to talk bus service

 

Metro is updating its bus service, and anyone interested is invited to weigh in on the process.

The agency will hold five public hearings on proposed changes and improvements to bus service in February. The testimony from those meetings will be passed along to regional service councils for consideration before the proposals are enacted.

The San Fernando Valley service area hearing takes place at 6:30 p.m. on February 1 at 6262 Van Nuys Boulevard. One change would replace Limited Line 363 with a new Line 162 in order to serve more stops and reduce crowding. Metro will also explore four service concepts for Metro Orange Line and the upcoming Orange Line Extension to Chatsworth. The concept that’s chosen will affect the frequency of the express buses and the paths they will take to destinations.

The hearing for Westside/Central service area will be held at 5 p.m. on February 8 at 615 South Shatto Place, just a short walk from the Wilshire/Western stop on Metro Red Line. Changes are proposed to four existing bus lines.

Additional meetings will be held in Huntington Park, Inglewood and El Monte. For meeting times and more details about the proposed changes, click here.

If you can’t make the meetings, comments can also be submitted by email to servicechanges@metro.net.

Posted 1/25/12

Calling all e-waste in Woodland Hills

Got an old computer, printer, cell phone or TV to unload? Recycle it on Saturday, January 21, at Serrania Avenue School in Woodland Hills from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The event, sponsored by Friends of Serrania, is free and will accept all kinds of discarded electronics equipment. Proceeds from the recycled items will help fund student programs at the school.

The school is located at 5014 Serrania Avenue in Woodland Hills. For more information, click here.

Posted 1/19/12

Changes coming for Orange Line riders

Metro’s Orange Line Extension is well on its way to improving transit options in the western San Fernando Valley and beyond. As construction continues, however, some current riders on the rapid transit busway will have their stops temporarily relocated in the days ahead.

From January 18 to January 30, the Pierce College, De  Soto and Canoga Stations will move one block south, along Victory Boulevard. Ticket sales and parking will still be available at the original stations, but patrons should allow extra time to walk to the temporary stops, where tickets will not be sold.

The Orange Line Extension is currently ahead of schedule and under budget. It is expected to open two months early in June with a final price tag of about $180 million, substantially less than the $215.6 million budgeted for the project.

Once the four-mile extension is completed, it will stretch from Canoga Park to the Chatsworth Metrolink Station, improving north-south mobility in the San Fernando Valley and linking with Amtrak and other regional transit providers.

Posted 1/11/12

Reliving a chapter in L.A. history

Before there were skyscrapers, freeways and blockbuster movies—even before there was a Gold Rush—a place called Campo de Cahuenga entered the history books as a pivotal place in California history.

It was there in 1847 that the Articles of Capitulation were signed. That ceremony ended the Mexican-American War in California and led to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, by which Mexico ceded all of California and a huge portion of what is now the western United States.

On Sunday, January 15, the Campo de Cahuenga Historical Memorial Association will reenact the historic signing by General Andres Pico and Lieutenant Colonel John C. Fremont, regional leaders of the Mexican and U.S. forces, respectively. Re-enactors will be dressed in authentic uniforms and a replica 1847 howitzer will be fired to mark the occasion.

For entertainment, there will be dance performances, access to the site’s archeological dig, refreshments and a $2 taco bar. Flags of the 12 nations that once laid claim to a part of California will be flown.

The event, the 62^nd such re-enactment, takes place Sunday from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. after a presentation of a memorial wreath at 12:30 p.m. Campo de Cahuenga is an outdoor historical site and museum located at 3919 Lankershim Boulevard in North Hollywood.

Posted 1/10/12