Westwood Neighborhood Council recap – June 10

The Westwood Neighborhood Council meets monthly to discuss issues pertaining to Westwood Village and the surrounding areas.

• Los Angeles Police Department patrol officer Matthew Ensley said several Special Olympics World Summer Games events are expected to increase traffic near Westwood Village and UCLA. Almost 7000 athletes will fly into LAX on July 21, and will be housed in the dorms of UCLA and University of Southern California during the Special Olympics starting July 24. Ensley said City Council District 5 and the office of the Mayor are working to solve expected congestion problems.
• Jeff Ebenstein, representative from councilman Paul Koretz’s office, said the new budget for the next fiscal year, which starts on July 1, allocates funds to resurfacing roads in residential areas throughout the Westside and on Wilshire Boulevard. He added funds will also be used for trimming trees.
• Board members voted 10-1 to have Ann Hayman fill the vacant Non-Profit/Arts/Culture/Recreational Community Director position. She is a member of the WWNC’s Land Use and Planning Committee and the secretary for Friends of Westwood Library.
• Board members moved to ask council president Jerry Brown to voice disapproval about the Los Angeles Unified School District School’s potential closing of its School Readiness and Language Development preschool program to the Board of Education, superintendent Ramon Cortines and mayor Eric Garcetti.
• Board members unanimously passed a motion to ask Koretz to add a City Planning Commission decision that explains the distinctions between a sit-down restaurant and a fast food restaurant to the Westwood Specific Plan. The plan regulates the number of restaurants and retail stores there can be in Westwood Village. Board members said a member of the City Planning Commission altered the restrictions on restaurants after it was voted on, without any approval, so the council wants to restore the original decision into the Westwood Specific Plan. Several board members said they think several restaurants try to classify themselves as sit-down restaurants, when in fact they are fast food restaurants, such as Bibigo and Corner Bakery. Other board members said they think the Department of City Planning is ignoring the Westwood Specific Plan because it thinks the department allows a large number of fast food restaurants into Westwood Village.
• The council passed a series of motions to use $1,600 from surplus funds from the 2014-2015 fiscal year to buy banners, signs, a timer and a speaker and send $500 to the council’s Budget Committee. Any of the council’s remaining funds from the ending fiscal year will be given back to the city by June 22. The council received $30,000 from the city for the next fiscal year, said Laura Winikow, the council’s treasurer.

Compiled by Roberto Luna Jr., Bruin senior staff.