Wine Tasting flyer (click for larger image)

The Corner Store will be hosting a wine tasting fundraiser for the 2009 MAR³INE Veterinary Fund. There will be a selection of wines and champagnes as well as gourmet cheese and chocolates to try.

Marine Animal Rescue, Rehabilitation and Release Into the Natural Environment, Inc. (MAR³INE) is a California 501(c)3 nonprofit public benefit corporation devoted to the retrieval, rehabilitation, and release of stranded and beached marine mammals.

DETAILS
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Three tasting times: 1–2pm, 2:30–3:30pm, 4–5pm
$15/person (non-refundable)

Contact the Marine Mammal Care Center at 310.548.5677 or the Corner Store at 310.832.2424 to make reservations. Reserve early as there are a limited number of spaces available.

Another way to help the Marine Mammal Care Center is to check out their Wish List. Next time you are running to the store or doing spring cleaning you just may come across some items they could use to help out the seals and sea lions.

Alma Street rendering 1 (click for larger image)

Several members of the Palisades Residents Association board met with representatives of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) yesterday to get the latest word on South Region High School #15 to relay the information to Palisades residents. LAUSD’s Regional Development Director Rod Hamilton, Board of Education District 7 Chief of Staff David Kooper, and District 7 Deputy Chief of Staff Jacob Haik filled us in.

This coming April or May, eight historic WWI buildings will be moved into the newly created “historic district” on LAUSDs property at Angels Gate where ten WWI buildings are already in place. Two of these buildings will eventually become prototypical historic buildings restored to near-original condition including redwood siding. The other buildings may be available to community groups in exchange for a low rent and building restoration. This is still in discussion. One of these WWI buildings may be available eventually for the Skills Center automotive program which was moved to the Harbor Occupational Center. The WWII buildings will be razed. Fort MacArthur Museum is in talks with LAUSD about possibly saving and moving one or two WWII buildings onto Ft. Mac property.

Also, in April or May, Angels Gate Continuation High School and the Early Education Center will be moved into portable classrooms placed on the sides of the parking area in front of the International Bird Rescue Center and Marine Mammal Care Center. Grading and remediation of contaminated earth will happen at this time. LAUSD will get back to us whether contaminated earth will be removed by trucks or recycled on site.

The migratory bird study, a special condition requested by the California Coastal Commission (CCC) for approval of the coastal permit, has begun. LAUSD will go before the CCC again in 2010 to seek approval for 36 wind turbines.

This fall the site will be ready for construction. Construction will begin no later than January 2010 and will last for 2 years and 4 months. The Point Fermin Outdoor Education Center (PFOEC) construction, which has already begun, should be finished in 2010. Offsite work on Alma and Gaffey Streets will be in late 2011 or early 2012. The new high school is expected to open in the fall of 2012.

Alma Street rendering 2 (click for larger image)

Alma Street will be widened by 7’ along the entire LAUSD property to straighten out the curves in the road and an 8′ sidewalk will be constructed. No residents’ property will changed. A traffic light will be installed on Gaffey Street at 32nd Street. This will be the preferred entrance and exit for busses going to and from the PFOEC provided a Memo of Understanding (MOU) and Joint Use Agreement with the Los Angeles City Department of Recreation and Parks are approved. Barlow Saxton Road (across Gaffey from 32nd Street) is on Rec & Parks land. This road will be slightly reconfigured near the PFOEC. The MOU gives LAUSD access to this road and parking in exchange for road improvements to Barlow Saxton Road, an engineering study on Osgood Farley Road and community access to the high school pool and fields. Rec & Parks will pay for the engineering study.

Alma Street rendering 3 (click for larger image)

Community access to the pool and fields will be after school hours and weekends when school is not in session and high school teams are not practicing. Estimates to restore the Gaffey Street (Hey, Rookie!) pool on Rec & Parks property at Angels Gate ranged from 9 to 10 million dollars.

The MOU between LAUSD and Rec & Parks will be presented at the next Board of Recreation & Parks Commissioners meeting on February 4. See meeting details here.

The historic stone wall surrounding the property will remain, however the fence on top of the wall will be redone. There are no plans to open the entrances to LAUSD property on 37th 36th Street. Utilities will be placed underground so there will not be utility poles on the property (see photos). The school will be 75–100% sustainable and will be CHPS certified. CHPS (pronounced “chips”) is the Collaborative for High Performance Schools which incorporates some of the ideas of LEED for Schools certification

Once the school is ready to be filled with students, the high school will be a magnet school housing 510 students sharing the same administration as San Pedro High School. Students living in San Pedro will be given first priority to entrance in these magnet programs. Currently at San Pedro High School there are slightly fewer than 500 students attending the Police and Marine Science magnets.

If you have questions regarding South Region High School #15 please
E-mail the PRA or attend the next Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council meeting when there will be a 30-minute question and answer period.

Related Articles:
Rec & Parks to Meet about SRHS#15
California Coastal Commission approves SRHS#15
Parks Feedback

SRHS#15 Site Plan

The L.A. City Board of Recreation & Parks Commissioners will be discussing a proposed memo of understanding (MOU) between LAUSD and Rec & Parks regarding Angels Gate Park. LAUSD would like to use Barlow Saxton Road as an entrance to South Region High School #15 in exchange for road engineering and improvements and community use of the new high school’s fields and pool.

The meeting details:
Wednesday, February 4, 2009 ***POSTPONED*** (see update below)
9:30 a.m.
EXPO Center, Community Hall Room, 3980 S Menlo Ave, LA 90037
(Parking located in ALot 1″, at the corner of Martin Luther King Blvd. and Menlo St.)

Commission Meetings can be heard live over the telephone through the Council Phone system. To listen to a meeting, please call (310) 547-CITY (2489) from San Pedro, 213-621-City (2489) from Downtown, 310-471-City (2489) from West L.A. or 818-904-9450 from Van Nuys. When you call the number, the first thing you hear is a menu of all the meetings to be broadcast on that day, and you may choose which one you want if it is not a Council day.

Information on agenda items may be obtained by calling the Commission Office at (213) 928-9040. Copies of the agenda (which were not available at the time of this article) and reports may be downloaded from the Department’s website.

***UPDATE*** The agenda for the 2/4 Rec & Parks meeting has been released and the MOU with LAUSD is not listed. We’ll let you know if this appears on a future agenda.
Related Articles:
Angels Gate

There will be a couple of filming projects on Paseo del Mar the next few days that will not result in any street closures.

The Mentalist, a crime drama on CBS, will be working at 1311 W Paseo del Mar Tuesday 1/20 7am-7pm, Wednesday 1/21 7am-10pm, and Thursday 1/22 7am-7pm. Crew parking will be at Paseo del Mar and Gaffey.

Also, MTV’s reality show Parental Control will be at 807 S Paseo del Mar on Wednesday 1/21 from 1pm-6pm.

Today during litter pick up for the national day of service a set of keys were found on Weymouth Avenue next to the White Point Nature Preserve. If you believe the keys are yours, please e-mail the Palisades Residents Association with a description of the keys.

LAPD Sr. Lead Officer Joe Buscaino has brought it to our attention that the Palisades neighborhood is starting out the year on the right track. From January 4 through 10, there were no reported Part 1 crimes in the Palisades. Part 1 crimes include Burglary/Theft From Motor Vehicles, Robbery, Aggravated Assault, and Grand Theft Auto.

Officer Buscaino asks us to continue to be vigilant and continue to follow the basic crime prevention measures highlighted on LAPD’s website.

Related Posts:
Burglary from Motor Vehicles
Palisades/Paseo del Mar Neighborhood Watch
Recent Palisades Burglaries

Tonight’s Palisades Residents’ Association board meeting has been postponed. We will update you with a new date and time soon.

***UPDATE****
The January board meeting of the Palisades Residents Association will be held Thursday, January 22nd, 7 pm at Angels Gate Cultural Center, Building A.

In an 8 to 3 vote the California Coastal Commission today approved LAUSD’s coastal permit application to build a school at Angels Gate. Some of the points that came out during the meeting were:
* Students who live within two miles of the school must walk or provide their own transportation. Students from outside this radius will be bussed in.
* There will be no outdoor lighting for the ampitheatre or sports fields. The only lighting will be for security purposes.
* The number of parking spaces has been increased to 193.
* Wind turbines have been removed from the plan temporarily. A year-long study of migratory birds along the Pacific flyway will be conducted and then an ammendment to the coastal application will be submitted for installation of wind turbines.
* World War I buildings will be preserved and reused for educational reuse.
* LAUSD will not comply with the San Pedro Specific Plan that sets a maximum building height of 26′. SRHS#15 plans call for 43′ high, 2—3 story buildings.

Six area residents spoke to the commission in opposition of the permit. No one spoke for the permit except for Rod Hamilton the Development Manager of the project.

***UPDATE*** The official stance of the California Coastal Commission:

SUMMARY OF STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends approval with special conditions on the basis that the project, as conditioned, conforms with the public access and resource protection policies of the Coastal Act. Special Conditions include: 1) Submit revised plans to remove wind turbines from construction plans; 2) Future Development; 3) Lighting plans; 4)Landscape plans; 5) Water Quality Management Plan; 6) Drainage and Erosion Control Plan; and 7) Archaeological resource recovery plan.

Related Posts:
Coastal Commission to Rule on SRHS#15
LAUSD Board to Vote on Angels Gate HS
California Coastal Commission Delays SRHS#15 Discussion
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