Open Letter to Venice Residents.
Via: Venice WatchDawg
An Open Letter to Venice Residents About Overnight Parking Districts
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"Be who you are and say how you feel because those who mind
don't matter, and those who matter don't mind." - - Dr. Seuss
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Dear Readers,
These two articles below will both explain why Venice is being overrun
with RV "live aboard" campers, while Santa Monica and the Marina are
not - and, why you should VOTE to retain the right to restrict
parking in
Venice at a special Venice Neighborhood Council election on Saturday,
February 21st at the Venice Public Library between 12:30 to 3:30
PM........
Best,
Rick Feibusch
Venice WatchDawg
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Don't Lose Your Right to Choose!
An Open Letter to Venice Residents
About Overnight Parking Districts
by Georgann Abraham
Dear Venice Residents,
Lack of parking in Venice has long been a hot issue. This has been
made much worse in several parts of Venice by the increase in people
living in their RVs, vans and cars. To keep your block's right to
choose overnight parking permits for residents and guests, you must
vote in a special election held by the Venice Neighborhood Council on
Saturday, February 21st at the Venice Public Library (12:30 to 3:30
PM) .
This election is an attempt by non-residents who live in vehicles and
their supporters to take this right from the rest of us. Currently,
you have this right; it is afforded to residents all across the City
of Los Angeles including Venice. Two initiatives will be up for a vote
on the 21st:
Initiative A - - would deprive Venice residents of their right to have
restricted parking from 2-6 AM on their block. As it is, Venice
residents have a right to restricted parking, if, and only if, a 2/3rds
majority of their block wants it. Initiative A seeks to eliminate even
this very limited right to protect access to parking.
Initiative B - - would affirm your right of choice to have restricted
overnight parking if a 2/3rds majority on your block agrees.
How did we get to this point? Personally, I did not pay much attention
to people sleeping in vans and RVs in Venice until one day when I was
working in the front yard and heard my neighbor yelling at a woman,
who had been living in an RV in front of our homes, as she was about
to dump a very large bucket of urine and feces in front of our homes.
That's when I realized this is a problem, not just the harassment
that Venice residents endure from those who live in their vehicles,
but as a real and serious health issue – to residents and to those who
swim at Venice Beach – because the sewage dumped (or leaked) from
these vehicles goes straight to the shore.
Advocates of the RV dwellers will tell you that those who support
overnight parking restrictions are hateful and unsympathetic. This is
not the case. Some of those supporting residents' rights to set up
overnight restrictions are also participating in a Venice Neighborhood
Council Committee that is specifically working on ways to help people
who are homeless or as well as those who choose to live in vehicles.
This is a compassionate way of dealing with the problem. these
residents are working hard investigating resources already available
and brainstorming new and creative ways to help people get out of
unfortunate situations. I support the efforts of this committee.
Locals find that the hateful behavior is coming from some of the RV
dwellers. Really, what is more hateful than parking in front of
someone's home for days at a time and loudly partying all night, just
daring residents to do anything about it?
What is more hateful than throwing excrement on someone's property?
What is scarier than finding syringes, spent condoms and pornographic
material in your yard, hoping it won't be your children finding it the
next time? What is more inconsiderate than making the public sidewalk
one's personal patio and intimidating pedestrians to stay away?
Preserve Your Right to Choose –
o Vote No on Initiative A
o Vote Yes on Initiative B
Saturday, February 21st at:
The Venice Public Library
12:30 to 3:30 PM
The RV advocates are now so brash that they have proposed giving
vehicular dwellers "resident stickers," at $50 a year, to make it
legal for them to park in front of our homes YOUR HOME!!!. They are
demanding that these vehicles be exempted from the ban on living in
vehicles on city streets and the requirement that vehicles be moved
every 72 hours.
What would this do for the proliferation of RVs in Venice?
How much do you pay in rent, mortgage, and/or property taxes to live
in Venice? I don't think most Venice residents would have objected to
a few RVs in Venice if they were clean and moved frequently. But at
least one RV advocate literally passed out flyers around the city
inviting RV dwellers to live in Venice and instructing them on how to
evade the laws against living in vehicles and how to out-fox the
police!
Now, it is estimated that over 200 RVs and vans are on Venice's
streets and more arrive weekly. This puts a tremendous burden on
residents and we have had no choice but to pursue the overnight
restrictions.
This is not a "not in my backyard" reaction. It's ALL in Venice's
backyard. Did you ever notice that there are no RVs parked overnight
in Santa Monica or the Marina? Every beach community surrounding
Venice has nighttime regulated parking which has funneled ALL the RV
parking into Venice.
Whether or not you think an overnight parking restriction is needed on
your block, this election may be your last opportunity to say that
Venice residents deserve the right to choose for their own block and
not have this
possibility taken away from us.n We face an up-hill battle to maintain
this right. Due to the VNC's loosey-goosey voting
LIES:
The RV advocates blatantly lie about the overnight parking district
(OPD) process. They say that if the 5 OPD overlay zones are approved
by the Coastal Commission, everyone in Venice will then have to pay
for a parking permit.
TRUTH:
The truth is this is just enabling legislation to set the rules for
small block-by-block initiatives. As of now, only 40 blocks have
signed up out of over 500 blocks in Venice. If your block does not
circulate a petition to all its residents – renters and owners alike –
and garner 2/3rds signatures of every household, there will be no
restrictions on your block.
LIES:
The RV defenders also maintain that walk street residents will not be
allowed to have permits to park in restricted areas. The truth is that
ALL residents in each of the overlay zones will have the right to
purchase a permit in their district, including walk street residents.
They also inflate the cost of a permit, claiming that they cost
hundreds of dollars a month.
TRUTH:
A resident sticker is $15 per year, renewable four-month visitor
permits are $10, and nightly guest permits are $1. But this only comes
into play if your block signs up and approves restricted parking.
LIES:
The RV protagonists maintain that the proliferation of RVs is a
consequence of the current economic crisis. However, longtime
residents say they have seen the increase in RVs develop over the last
20 years. In TV and print news stories, RV dwellers have admitted they
have lived on our streets for years, long before the current financial
downturn. Residents have photos of the RVs on out streets going back
to the mid-1980s.
TRUTH:
Over the years, the inability of the police to effectively enforce the
ban on living in vehicles has attracted more people to this lifestyle
and has made Venice a magnet for RVs.
I urge you to come out February 21st to protect your right to set up
overnight parking restrictions if you find them
appropriate for your block.
Georgann Abraham,
RN, Venice, CA
For further information
go to: www.venicenc.org
or call: 310 569 4643.
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WHY THE RVs ARE ALL COMING TO VENICE
AND NOWHERE ELSE, HERE ON THE COAST
by Stewart Oscars
January 14, 2009
A Listing of Parking Restrictions on City Streets in the Coastal Zone
in the City of Los Angeles from the Northern Border of Los Angeles
south to the El Segundo Border
I recorded an inventory of the posted parking restrictions of the
streets of Los Angeles in the Coastal Zone from the Northern Border
(Surfview Drive) to the Border with El Segundo (South of West Imperial
Highway) on January 9, 2009.
I found that nighttime parking along the coast is restricted
everywhere except Venice (with the exception of three short blocks
totaling 6 or 7 parking places).
The following is the description of restricted parking in the survey area:
1) Between L A Northern Border and Santa Monica Northern City Border
(Castellammare and Pacific Palisades):
a) There is no parking on Pacific Coast Highway between the hours of
10 pm and 5 or 6 am (the am restriction varies by location).
b) Temescal Canyon has no parking 10 pm to 5 am.
c) Los Liones Drive has no parking 11 pm to 5 am.
2) Venice:
a) Pacific Avenue (from Navy St to Westminster St) has no daytime
parking 8 am to 8 pm but has nighttime parking. So parking is
actually increased at nighttime/early morning because parking is
allowed on Pacific Avenue from 8 pm to 8 am.
b) Two blocks West of Speedway have limited parking: Ozone Ave is
signed no parking 10 pm to 6 am. And Union Jack Street is signed no
parking 9 pm to 7 am.
c) Inside the Silver Strand at Via Dolce and Marquesas there is one
block signed no parking 2 am to 6 am.
3) Playa Del Rey to L A Border with El Segundo:
a) West of Esplanade on Convoy St. there is no parking 11 pm to 5 am.
b) Pacific Avenue from 62nd Avenue South to Culver Blvd on both sides
of the street there is no parking 10 pm to 6 am except for a short
section on the west side of Pacific north of the park.
c) Vista Del Mar south from Waterview the entire drive to El Segundo
both sides of the street have no parking 10 pm to 6 am.
d) Napoleon above Vista Del Mar has a one block section with no
parking 10 pm to 6 am.
Looking at the restricted street parking established in the Coastal
Zone in the communities surrounding Venice leads me to ask: with all
these precedents established, why are the residents of Venice having
such a hard time establishing less restrictive parking districts?
Preserve Your Right to Choose –
Vote No on Initiative A
Vote Yes on Initiative B
Saturday, February 21st at:
Venice Public Library
12:30 to 3:30 PM
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Westminster Elementary TREE PLANTING!
Please Join US! Saturday, February 21, 2009
from 8am - 1pm to plant some 35 trees as well as many vines and shrubs.
This is one step toward our MASTER PLAN of a Green School/Joint Use
Campus! (open to the community after school and on weekends.)
We will have a good group of folks out on that Saturday, rain or shine!
Tools and snacks will be provided. WE'd love for you to join us!
Please see attached promo/donation flyer.
Many thanks!
Coby Dahlstrom, Westminster Elementary PTA President
submitted by Linda Lucks
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