The Association has been working with the City on figuring out what happened when the City started trimming our street trees and ended up removing a large number of trees. Hancock Park is an HPOZ and as such our street forest is protected. Any removal of a street tree in the parkway section of our streets need to be reviewed by the HPOZ Board; something the City did not do. Now, however, the City has agreed to follow its own rules and will not be removing any more trees unless an arborist reviews the decision and the HPOZ board agrees. The tree trimming will resume in the near future. This time, though, they’d trim one block, the Association’s arborist will check the work and determine the job is correct before the crews continue trimming.
As part of our reforesting effort the Association’s Tree Committee has been investigating different varieties of our existing street tree species to find cultivars that are better adapted to the challenging circumstances in our parkways. As many of us have removed grass to install water saving landscapes, the watering of parkway trees has often been forgotten. This means our street trees are suffering a double whammy: less watering from homeowners and extreme drought and heat conditions. As a homeowner you can help by being sure your trees are well watered.
The City has a new contractor to maintain the Highland median and we’re still in the evaluation period as to whether the contractor is doing their job. The Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council has sponsored an asphalt truck to do spot fixes in asphalt paving. If you see a pothole in an asphalt street, let your block captain know or contact the Association.
Don’t forget to keep you and your family safe by locking your house, car and activate your house alarm if you have one. Contact Officer Dave Cordova if you are a victim of a crime and Dave can take a crime report. Call his cell phone, 213-793-0650 or send him an email, 31646@lapd.lacity.org with all the information, including your name and telephone number.
Join a committee and be an active member of the Hancock Park Community. The Association’s website is: http://www.hancockparkhomeownersassociation.org/ . The HPOZ Preservation Plan -http://www.preservation.lacity.org/hpoz/la/hancock-park regulates our HPOZ. Contact our City Planner, Renata Dragland (renata.dragland@lacity.org), and use the online form (http://preservation.lacity.org/hpoz/initial.screening.checklist) if you plan on making changes to the exterior of your house. Report graffiti sightings by calling 311 or at the City’s Anti-Graffiti Request System – http://anti-graffiti.lacity.org/welcome.cfm?CFID=1007&CFTOKEN=411CDB4F-0FC3-4EE1-89DE58DCCB435538 and by calling Hollywood Beautification, 323-463-5180.