Happy New Year, Now Let's Get Back to Business!

Happy New Year to all!

The quiet festive time may be coming to an end as we patiently, or as patiently as we can, await the news from the Los Angeles City Department of Planning, and what they feel is appropriate to be built at Ponte Vista at San Pedro.

Bob Bisno is still sticking to his plans to build 1,950 condominiums on 61.53 acres of land in northwest San Pedro. That would give that project a gross density of 31.69 units per acre. Of course not all the land inside the fences of Ponte Vista is able to be built on and since Bob claims that "40% of the land will be open space", it seems the housing will really be more dense than one can imagine.

There is still no logical reason for many folks to demand anything other than R1 and keeping the current zoning as it is at Ponte Vista, if Bob stands firm on his outrageous number of units. Unfortunately, Bob continues to strongly refuse to compromise in any real manner.

Bob and his bunch have produced a single page flyer that shows the difference between what he wants to build and what he believes would be offered if R1 was maintained at the site.

As one would expect, the figures and notes used to create the flyer cause it to have many errors and/or omissions on both sides of the page and it uses incorrect statements to get folks to favor his plans over keeping the site R1.

Back in August, 2006, Janice Hahn's Community Advisory Committee met for the very first time. At that meeting, both Bob and Councilwoman Hahn made statements and predictions. Bob claimed he would work with any and all groups to try and find solutions to problems folks had with his plans, back then.

There was talk, so very long ago, that the L.A. City Council would probably get to vote on the municipal laws and codes that would allow for construction of the project, by January of 2008.

Well, as we look at our calendars, it is now January, 2008 and we are nowhere near any type of vote by any council on what might be built at Ponte Vista.

This year may be the year OUR community goes before the Los Angeles Planning Commission and be heard in hearings and meetings to determine what may go forward for approval by the Planning Commission, concerning the Ponte Vista matter.

IF and when the Planning Commission finally arrives at a majority decision as to what should go forward to the City Council for consideration, we all need to stand firm and clear that if anyone suggests that Ponte Vista has the number of units Bob wants now, we must state firmly and hold our ground to R1, NO COMPROMISE!

"Compromise" has been heard by opponents of Bob's plans and by supporters, too. Unfortunately, Bob has not listened to anyone mentioning that word. In actuality, probably more folks really want a compromise, in terms of numbers of units, than support Bob's current plans.

If Bob won't listen, then we must continue our fight to keep the zoning as it currently is at Ponte Vista. If the Planning Department and/or the Planning Commission favors Bob's plans, then we must fight them, too.

Your Rudderless Steering Committee will meet this month to plan for things to happen in the near future. It is time to remember what we probably chose to ignore since August, 2007 and we all need to put the issues back into focus, as we move forward.

Some folks demand R1, no matter what. Some folks see as many as 1,500 units. My "dream" is for 1,080 units, but that can't even be considered if Bob sticks to his ridiculous number of units.

Others have between 1,100-1,300 units in mind, and that is called a compromise between what Bob wants and what strong R1 proponents demand.

Everyone has a right and probably an obligation to their fellow neighbors and OUR community to let others know what they can live with, at Ponte Vista. This must be a community issue, because it will impact all of us in our own generation and generations to come.

Please continue to visit the group's Web site at: www.rneighborhoodsare1.org and let everybody know how you feel.

As 2007 was so very interesting, as far as the Ponte Vista project goes, it looks like 2008 could either be a very active and confrontational year, or a year when we all can come together as a community to create a Ponte Vista that we can all be proud of.