North Westwood Neighborhood Council recap – Dec. 4

The North Westwood Neighborhood Council is the official neighborhood council representing Westwood Village and UCLA to the Los Angeles City Council. Council meetings are open to the public and held monthly. The next meeting will be held Jan. 8 in the Weyburn Commons Village View Room from 7-10 p.m. 

Agenda:

• The council selected Peter Clinco, owner of Skylight Gardens, to fill the organizational stakeholder seat. Clinco, who is also a member of the Westwood Village Improvement Association, said the most significant challenge facing the neighborhood in the near future will be the upcoming construction of the Purple Line Extension, a Los Angeles Metro subway line, that may temporarily impede access to Westwood Village. Clinco was chosen over Furkan Yalcin, who serves on the Outreach and Communications committee and the Community Activities and Projects committee. The vote was 8 to 4 in favor of Clinco.
• Councilmember Andrew Lewis briefly resigned his residential seat so the council could consider applicants that qualified for the residential seat and organizational stakeholder seat, as Lewis qualified for two different seats on the council and could potentially fill another seat if needed. Lewis was unanimously reappointed to his seat by the council after it considered, but did not accept, the application of Morgan Arafat, a local realtor, for the residential seat.
• The council unanimously appointed Arafat to the Land Use committee. Although not selected for the residential seat, Council President Michael Skiles encouraged Arafat to remain involved with the council through the committee.
• The council authorized the Transportation committee to draft a letter to all relevant parties in the city government in support of a traffic, bicycle and pedestrian safety study for Wilshire Boulevard, Veteran Avenue and the adjacent areas.
• The council voted to oppose a city council motion to allow taxis to pick up travelers in the central terminal area of the Los Angeles International Airport, citing that it would undo recent efforts by LAX to reduce traffic congestion. The motion was introduced by Paul Koretz, city council member for City District 5, in response to LAX restricting curbside pickups by ride-hailing services and taxis to a parking lot outside the central terminal area. Twelve voted in favor of opposing the measure and one, Councilmember Mara Braciszewski, voted against opposing it.
• The council unanimously called for bicycle lanes on Westwood Boulevard and Gayley Avenue to be included in LA Metro’s First/Last Mile project, which aims to improve the ability of travelers to reach LA Metro services and their destinations after using said services. The proposed bicycle lanes, in this case, would complement the Purple Line Extension.