Appendix A6

Comment Letters

Bicycle Advisory Committee of the City of Los Angeles 15206 Morrison Street, Los Angeles CA 91403 

  

 VIA E‐MAIL TO srimal.hewawitharana@lacity.org   October 30, 2015  Environmental Analysis Section Department of City Planning 200 North Spring Street, Room 750 Los Angeles, CA 90012  

Re:  SunWest Project   Case No. ENV‐2015‐2448‐EIR  

 Department of City Planning:  I am Chair of the Bicycle Advisory Committee of the City of Los Angeles (“BAC”), which was established in 1973 “to act in an advisory capacity to . . . the various agencies of the . . . City of Los Angeles in the encouragement and facilitation of the use of the bicycle as a regular means of transportation and recreation.” We take seriously our obligation to ensure that Los Angeles’ elected and appointed officials fulfill their duties to fully implement the bicycle‐related elements of the newly‐adopted Mobility Plan 2035.   The Environmental Impact Report should address and analyze the impact of this project individually and cumulatively with other projects in the Hollywood area, on bicycling and policies and programs in Mobility Plan 2035.  Mobility Plan 2035 includes plans and policies related to a multi‐layered bicycle network. The backbone of the bikeway system is the Bicycle Enhanced Network (“BEN”), which consists large of Class I bike paths along the LA River and storm channels, and Class IV protected bike lanes on arterial streets. The BEN is complemented by a network of low‐stress local and collector streets designated as the “Neighborhood Enhanced Network” or “NEN.” In traffic‐congested areas, including all of the Los Angeles Basin west of the Harbor Freeway and north of Venice Boulevard, Mobility Plan 2035 recognizes that installing protected bike lanes on arterial streets is politically infeasible, and so designates several NEN streets as part of the BEN.   First‐Mile, Last‐Mile Bikeways to Major Transit Stations   Both Metro and the City of Los Angeles have policies promoting “first‐mile, last‐mile” connections to major transit facilities, including Red Line stations in the vicinity of the Project. Mobility Plan 2035; Metro First Last Mile Strategic Plan. Such connections include on‐street bikeways in the vicinity of 

Department of City Planning Case No. ENV‐2015‐2448‐EIR 

October 30, 2015 Page 2 of 3 

  

stations. For purposes of these policies, the bicycle catchment area is 3 miles. The Project is within 3 miles of several Red and Purple Line Stations.  Although the Red and Purple Lines have been operating in the area for 15 years or more, the City of Los Angeles has not installed a single bicycle connection to any Red Line or Purple Line Station in Koreatown, East Hollywood or Hollywood. In recent years, the City has begun to explore installing bike lanes that connect to some of these stations, including along Vermont Avenue, Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street, but in all cases has refused to move forward because of concerns about motor vehicle traffic congestion. In addition, the City has refused to install bike lanes on Lankershim Boulevard that would provide direct connections to the Valley Red Line stations. In short, although there are policies, programs and plans requiring the City to improve bike access to major transit stations, the City has a practice of not implementing these plans because of traffic volumes.   For that reason, any project that generates additional trips within the 3‐mile bicycle catchment area potentially has a significant impact on first‐mile, last‐mile policies. This is an issue where a cumulative impact analysis must be undertaken. Even if this project adds only a small number of trips to Hollywood‐area streets, the cumulative traffic‐generating impact of all approved and proposed developments along the Red and Purple Lines must be taken into account in evaluating whether, under the City’s current practice, additional traffic makes it less likely that the City will provide bike access to transit stations. The EIR must analyze this issue.  I would note that this is entirely a problem of the City’s own making. If the City had a track record of providing high‐quality bike access to major transit stations despite potential traffic impacts, it might be able to conclude that traffic‐generating projects did not have an impact on bicycle plans or policies. But as long as the City uses traffic impacts as a justification for refusing to install bike infrastructure, it cannot take the position for the purposes of CEQA that traffic generation does not have an impact on these policies. As noted, the cumulative impact of all development on the City’s implementation of Mobility Plan 2035’s bicycle networks is significant.   In short, because the City’s practice is to treat traffic congestion as significant—and often determinative—in making decisions not to implement Mobility Plan 2035 (and predecessor bicycle plans), the City cannot contend that this issue is not significant under CEQA.  Neighborhood Enhanced Network  Under Mobility Plan 2035, NEN streets are to “provide comfortable and safe routes for localized travel of slower‐moving modes such as walking, bicycling, or other slow speed motorized means of travel. This network complements the Pedestrian Enhanced Districts and the Bicycle Enhanced Network by identifying non‐arterial streets important to the movement of people who walk and bike.” While the Mobility Plan does not establish absolute standards for NEN streets, it does include suggested performance criteria, including “vehicular travel that does not exceed 1500 vehicles a day and streets where the 85th percentile of travel speed is equal to or less than 20 mph, in order to provide a safe and comfortable experience for people who travel by walking, bicycling, or other slower moving modes.”   

Department of City Planning Case No. ENV‐2015‐2448‐EIR 

October 30, 2015 Page 3 of 3 

  

The EIR must evaluate existing and projected traffic volumes on NEN streets in the vicinity of the Project, both from this project and cumulatively with other approved or proposed projects in the vicinity, to determine whether there will be an impact on implementation of the NEN. In this regard, I note that the City has not implemented any traffic diverters or other measures to actually limit vehicle volumes on any proposed NEN street anywhere in the vicinity of the project (the Yucca “bike boulevard” simply modified existing traffic diverters that were installed many years ago for other purposes).    It is immaterial that the NEN performance criteria are not stated in absolutes. The argument is not that traffic volumes over 1,500 exceed a threshold by which impacts are automatically considered significant, but that traffic volumes and speeds are necessary to a subjective, case‐by‐case determination about the whether the impacts are significant.   Typically, because CEQA still requires a traffic impact analysis, all of the proposed mitigation measures for a project are aimed at increasing vehicle flow, adding turn lanes and more complex turning movements at intersections, etc. However, these are precisely the kinds of “improvements” that adversely impact the safety of people who bike and walk.  Finally, if the project EIR seeks to claim trip reductions based on TDM measures such as bicycle parking, those credits cannot fairly be claimed if the project will make the streets surrounding the project more hostile for bicycling.  Respectfully, 

 Jeff Jacobberger 

Los Angeles Unified School District Office of Environmental Health and Safety

333 South Beaudry Avenue, 28th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90017 Telephone (213) 241-3199 Fax (213) 241-6816

The Office of Environmental Health and Safety is dedicated to providing a safe and healthy environment for the students and employees of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

October 5, 2015

Srimal Hewawitharana Submitted via electronic mail to

Environmental Analysis Section smiral.hewawitharana@lacity.org

Department of City Planning

200 N. Spring Street, Room 750

Los Angeles, CA 90012

SUBJECT: SunWest Project (Case No: ENV-2015-2448-EIR)

Dear Srimal Hewawitharana:

Presented below are comments submitted on behalf of the Los Angeles Unified School District

(LAUSD) regarding the Notice of Preparation (NOP) for the proposed SunWest Project (proposed

project) located at 5509 - 5529 West Sunset Boulevard; 1505 - 1535 North Western Avenue; and

5518 West Harold Way, Los Angeles, CA 90028. The proposed project would entail the development

of 293 residential units and would have the potential to increase the demand on the existing school

services provided by LAUSD. Please note that the proposed project would be located near the

following LAUSD schools:

Grant Elementary School (1530 N. Wilton Place, Los Angeles, CA 90028)

Helen Bernstein High School (1309 N. Wilton Place, Hollywood, CA 90028)

Joseph Le Conte Middle School (1316 N. Bronson Ave, Hollywood, CA 90028)

LAUSD is providing these comments to the City in order to ensure that potential impacts to its

campuses resulting from construction of the proposed project are appropriately analyzed and

mitigated, as necessary.

Air Quality

Construction related activities associated with the proposed project would have the potential to

adversely impact sensitive receptors. Sensitive receptors are facilities that house or attract children,

the elderly, and people with illnesses or others who are especially sensitive to the effects of air

pollutants. Hospitals, schools, convalescent facilities, and residential areas are examples of sensitive

receptors. To ensure that effective mitigation is employed to reduce construction related air quality

and fugitive dust impacts on proximate schools, we ask that the following language be considered for inclusion in the Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for air quality impacts:

If air quality and fugitive dust-related impacts remain after implementation of the

proposed mitigation measures, the project applicant shall develop new feasible and

appropriate measures to effectively mitigate construction-related air quality and

fugitive dust at the affected schools. Provisions shall be made to allow the schools

RAMON C. CORTINES Superintendent of Schools

THELMA MELÉNDEZ, PH.D. Chief Executive Officer, Office of Educational Services

ROBERT LAUGHTON Director, Environmental Health and Safety

CARLOS A. TORRES Deputy Director, Environmental Health and Safety

Comments: PROJECT NAME: SunWest Project

CASE NO: ENV-2015-2448-EIR

Page 2 of 3

and/or designated representative(s) to notify the project applicant when such measures are warranted.

Noise

Noise and vibration created by construction activities would adversely affect the students and staff at

the proximate schools. LAUSD established maximum allowable noise levels to protect students and

staff from noise impacts generated in terms of Leq (equivalent continuous noise level). These

standards were established based on regulations set forth by the California Department of

Transportation and the City of Los Angeles. LAUSD’s exterior noise standard is 67 dBA (A-

weighted decibel) Leq and the interior noise standard is 52 dBA Leq. A noise level increase of 3 dBA

or more over ambient noise levels is considered significant for existing schools and would require mitigation to achieve levels within 2 dBA of pre-project ambient level.

To ensure that effective mitigation is employed to reduce construction related noise impacts on the

proximate schools, we ask that the following language be considered in the Draft EIR for potential

noise impacts:

If noise-related impacts remain after implementation of the proposed mitigation

measures, the project applicant shall develop additional feasible and appropriate

measures to effectively mitigate construction-related noise at the affected schools.

Provisions shall be made to allow the schools and/or designated representative(s) to

notify the project applicant when such measures are warranted, such as during State-mandated testing.

Public Services

Development of 293 new residential units would be expected to increase the demand of school

services. Schools currently serving the proposed project area include Grant Elementary School,

Joseph Le Conte Middle School, and Helen Bernstein High School. Information regarding each

school’s capacity and enrollment is available on LAUSD’s Find A School website at

http://notebook.lausd.net/schoolsearch/search.jsp.

Information related to school developer fees can be obtained by contacting the LAUSD Developer

Fee Office at (213) 241-0715.

Transportation/Traffic

LAUSD schools are required to comply with California Education Code (CEC), Section 5, regarding

the preparation of Safe School Plans. Safe School Plans address violence prevention, emergency

preparedness, traffic safety, and crisis intervention. During and after construction, changed traffic

patterns, lane adjustments, traffic light patterns and altered bus stops may impact pedestrian routes to

schools, school bus time performance and bus passenger safety, and parent drop off and pick up

activities. Additionally, truck traffic and construction vehicles may cause traffic delays for transported students.

During the construction phase, street and/or sidewalk closures may impede pedestrians from taking

the safest path of travel to nearby schools, which include intersections and street segments

Comments: PROJECT NAME: SunWest Project

CASE NO: ENV-2015-2448-EIR

Page 3 of 3

surrounding the proposed project. Vehicle ingress and egress from the proposed project site during

construction and operation would also traverse routes to school.

LAUSD requests the inclusion of the following measures in the Draft EIR or project design for the

proposed project to address school traffic, pedestrian routes to school, and transportation safety issues during construction and operation of the proposed project:

Contractors must guarantee that safe and convenient pedestrian routes to LAUSD schools

are maintained. Pedestrian Routes to School maps can be found at http://www.lausd-

oehs.org/saferoutestoschools.asp.

Contractors must maintain ongoing communication with the site administrators of proximate

schools, providing sufficient notice to forewarn children and parents when existing

pedestrian and vehicular routes to schools will be impacted.

The LAUSD Transportation Branch must be contacted at (213)580-2903, regarding the

potential impact of the proposed project upon existing school bus routes. The Project

Manager or designee should notify the LAUSD Transportation Branch of the expected start

and ending dates for various portions of the proposed project that may affect traffic through

the areas.

Because of provisions in the California Vehicle Code, trucks and construction vehicles may

encounter school buses using the red flashing lights and must stop.

School buses and parents dropping off their students must have access to the drop off areas

located on each of the proximate school campuses.

LAUSD’s charge is to protect the health and safety of students, faculty, staff, and the integrity of the

learning environment. The comments presented above identify potential environmental impacts

related to the proposed project that must be addressed to ensure the welfare of the students, faculty,

and staff at LAUSD schools. If additional issues are identified by LAUSD, we will bring them to the attention of the City.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. Please feel free to contact me at (213) 241-3913 should

you require any additional information.

Sincerely,

Eimon Smith

CEQA Project Manager/Contract Professional

c: Christopher Ikeanyi, Principal, Grant Elementary School

Rosemary Hindinger, Principal, Joseph Le Conte Middle School

Andre Spicer, Principal, Helen Bernstein High School