WATER YOUR TREES!!!

 

The recent heat storm damaged many, many plants and trees in Hancock Park.  In particularly, our parkway trees are really suffering.  These trees need regular, deep watering particularly in the summer months.  Be sure and water all your trees and especially your parkway trees once a week, a slow drip for a few hours.  Your trees clean the air, cool the ground, adds value to your property and provide homes for birds and other wildlife.

Here’s how to care for your damaged trees and plants:

 

·        Deep water, particularly if a high heat situation is near

·        Don’t prune off leaves burned by the sun.  They protect the healthy leaves and you don’t want to encourage new growth during the summer;

·        Check trees and make sure that they are healthy.  If you are concerned that a limb might be brittle, have a licensed arborist check as soon as possible.

 

The Association has been working with the Council Office and the City to develop plans for pruning Hancock Park’s parkway trees.  The trimming began, unfortunately, right after the heat storm and the crews contracted by the city were doing a very harsh and extreme job.  We’ve stopped the trimming and will work to develop guidelines that the contractors will follow, and no further trimming will be done in the summer.   The city will be removing over 35 dead parkway trees and the Association (using your dues) will be replanting in the fall.   If your trees were trimmed it is particularly important to keep watering them.  Trimming a tree stresses it and our trees need our help.  Visit our website for information about how to correctly prune a tree and when to do it

 

Keep yourself and your family safe by reporting any suspicious behavior to the LAPD, keep your doors and cars locked and, if you have an alarm, set it even if you’re in the house.  If you think someone is trying to break into your home call 911 immediately.  DO NOT CONFRONT THE PERSON YOURSELF!

 

If you plan to change your landscaping or make changes to the exterior of your house please contact our City Planner, Suki Gershenhorn (suki.gershenhorn@lacity.org) before starting to make sure your plans comply with our Preservation Plan.  The HPOZ Preservation Plan, which regulates our HPOZ can be found at http://www.preservation.lacity.org/hpoz/la/hancock-park   There is also an online form you can fill out to help speed up the process (http://preservation.lacity.org/hpoz/initial.screening.checklist).  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. 

Know Your Block Captain and Stay Safe

The most important part of keeping our homes and families safe is an active Neighborhood Watch.  And the foundation of a successful Neighborhood Watch is your block captain.  The Block Captain and Security Committees recruit new block captains and support the existing ones.  So we thank our Block Captains Committee, particularly Jen DeVore and Cindy Chvatal and our Security Committee chair, Peter Gorelick for all the work they do to help support our community network. 

The Association recently hosted a dinner at the Wilshire Country Club recently where Councilman Ryu and our new Field Deputy, Rob Fisher, joined the Block Captains for dinner and discussions.  Our block captains also heard from our Security Committee Chair, Peter Gorelick, and other Board members of the Association. 

Your block captains keep their neighbors informed about what’s going on, interface with the City and, most importantly, they are the core of our neighborhood watch; providing security and eyes on the ground for the LAPD and security services.  If you don’t know who your block captain is then contact the Association.  If your block doesn’t have a block captain and you want to volunteer (Yeah!) then also contact the Association.

Remember to pay your Association dues, which you can now do on our website.  Your dues help fund the many initiatives that keep Hancock Park beautiful.  Your dues also show the City and other organizations that you support the work the Association does on your behalf. 

Remember, to report any suspicious behavior to the LAPD, keep your doors and cars locked and, if you have an alarm, set it even if you’re in the house.  If you think someone is trying to break into your home call 911 immediately.  DO NOT CONFRONT THE PERSON YOURSELF!

If you plan to change your landscaping or make changes to the exterior of your house please contact our City Planner, Kimberly Henry (kimberly.henry@lacity.org) before starting to make sure your plans comply with our Preservation Plan.  The HPOZ Preservation Plan, which regulates our HPOZ can be found at http://www.preservation.lacity.org/hpoz/la/hancock-park   There is also an online form you can fill out to help speed up the process (http://preservation.lacity.org/hpoz/initial.screening.checklist).  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. 

 

Rebuilding and Preserving John Burroughs Middle School

The Los Angeles Unified School District is embarking on a comprehensive modernization project to increase safety and create a better learning environment for the district’s school children.  John Burroughs Middle School is one of the first schools to be upgraded and the planning has been ongoing for the last couple of years.  The Association and the neighbors of JB have asked that the plan:  1) Preserve the historical buildings and landscape of the school; 2) Mitigate the impact of such a large construction project on the surrounding neighborhood; 3) Ensure that the end result actually addresses the issues that prompted the rebuild; and 4) Does not undermine the successful work the neighborhood, the Association and JB staff have done to mitigate the impact of such a high population institution in the middle of a residential neighborhood.  In particular, we’re pushing LAUSD to come up with a way to manage student drop-off so that vehicles don’t continue to clog the streets causing traffic and safety problems twice a day.

The LPGA will be holding a golf tournament at the Wilshire Country Club, April 18^th through April 22^nd (Wednesday-Sunday).  The club is working on a plan to manage parking and traffic and the Association will send information to the neighbors as soon as the plan is solidified.

Don’t forget the best protection against crime is vigilance and your neighborhood watch. 

Report any suspicious behavior to the LAPD, keep your doors and cars locked and, if you have an alarm, set it even if you’re in the house.  If you think someone is trying to break into your home call 911 immediately.  DO NOT CONFRONT THE PERSON YOURSELF!

If you plan to change your landscaping or make changes to the exterior of your house please contact our City Planner, Kimberly Henry (kimberly.henry@lacity.org) before starting to make sure your plans comply with our Preservation Plan.  The HPOZ Preservation Plan, which regulates our HPOZ can be found at http://www.preservation.lacity.org/hpoz/la/hancock-park   There is also an online form you can fill out to help speed up the process (http://preservation.lacity.org/hpoz/initial.screening.checklist).  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. 

 

Welcome to Our New Board Member

We’re thrilled to welcome Erik Storey to the Hancock Park Homeowners Association, est. 1948 Board of Directors.  Erik has lived in Hancock Park since 2004 where he and his spouse, Architect/Interior Designer Rodrigo Vargas, are raising their six year old daughter.  Erik is a member of the Los Angeles Tennis Club as well as the Television Academy.  After 15 years as a senior executive at Comcast Universal, Erik is now an independent television producer, full-time Dad and passionate LA historian.

Erik is joining the other Board members who lead and chair many of the initiatives and committees through which your association does the work of keeping our neighborhood a wonderful place to live.  But our committees are also made of up of you, the members of the Association.  If there’s a committee you’d like to work with, just drop a note at the website and someone will get in touch with you.  For example, our Security Committee, chaired by Peter Gorelick, just sponsored a meeting to keep residents informed about what they can do to keep themselves, their families and their property safe.  And, there are many other committee activities need your help:  The Tree Committee is doing an inventory of the trees in Hancock Park and developing a plan to reforest our neighborhood, as well as taking care of individual issues and planting trees.  The Zoning Committee works to keep development in and around Hancock Park reasonable and in keeping with our residential community.  The Streets Committee has been diligent in pushing the city to develop a plan and obtain funding to repair and replace our concrete streets with concrete.  And the filming committee works nonstop to encourage filmmakers and homeowners offering their houses for filming to keep in mind our Good Neighbor Filming Policies which helps mitigate the impact of filming on neighbors.

While the LAPD is adding more police officers, fighting crime is also done by everyone in a community being aware and proactive.  Remember to report any suspicious behavior to the LAPD, keep your doors and cars locked and, if you have an alarm, set it even if you’re in the house.  If you think someone is trying to break into your home call 911 immediately.  DO NOT CONFRONT THE PERSON YOURSELF!

If you plan to change your landscaping or make changes to the exterior of your house please contact our City Planner, Kimberly Henry (kimberly.henry@lacity.org) before starting to make sure your plans comply with our Preservation Plan.  The HPOZ Preservation Plan, which regulates our HPOZ can be found at http://www.preservation.lacity.org/hpoz/la/hancock-park   There is also an online form you can fill out to help speed up the process (http://preservation.lacity.org/hpoz/initial.screening.checklist).  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. 

 

 

Keeping Hancock Park Safe – Plan to Be at the Security Meeting February 6^th!

 

Crime in Los Angeles, including Hancock Park, has seen a 10% increase in the last year.  The LAPD will be adding 10% more police officers to every division in the city and the Wilshire Division, which is the LAPD Division that includes Hancock Park, will see an additional ten new officers.  In addition the Wilshire Division is launching a new crime fighting unit that will target areas with spikes in violent and property crimes. 

The LAPD says that property crimes, primarily car theft and break-ins of cars, are a big part of the increase in crime.  They recommend video cameras at the front doors and apps that alert residents.  However, as many burglars gain entry through the rear of the home, a secondary camera should be installed in the rear of the house. 

While adding police officers will help stem crime, fighting crime is also done by everyone in a community being aware and proactive.  Remember to report any suspicious behavior to the LAPD, keep your doors and cars locked and, if you have an alarm, set it even if you’re in the house.  If you think someone is trying to break into your home call 911 immediately.  DO NOT CONFRONT THE PERSON YOURSELF!

As part of increasing awareness and helping the LAPD and the private security services help us, the Association is sponsoring a Security Meeting on February 6^th at 7PM at 3^rd Street School.  LAPD SLO Dave Cordova and our Private Security Companies SSA and ADT will be  present to discuss the increase in crime, the addition of more LAPD officers and answer any questions you may have about improving security in our Hancock Park neighborhood.  So, put February 6^th on your calendar and join us!

 If you plan to change your landscaping or make changes to the exterior of your house please contact our City Planner, Kimberly Henry (kimberly.henry@lacity.org) before starting to make sure your plans comply with our Preservation Plan.  The HPOZ Preservation Plan, which regulates our HPOZ can be found at http://www.preservation.lacity.org/hpoz/la/hancock-park   There is also an online form you can fill out to help speed up the process (http://preservation.lacity.org/hpoz/initial.screening.checklist).  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. 

After much planning and work the HPHOA’s new website is up and running - https://hancockparkhomeownersassociation.org/ !  This new website gives us the ability to post more information and provide a more interactive experience.

Start out by looking at the photographs scrolling through that show some of the beautiful houses in Hancock Park.  Then look at the pull-down menus that alert you to important news; help you contact either the Association or Councilman Ryu’s Office; Provide updates and information  on Filming Guidelines, Parkway Trees, Streets and Sidewalks, the Highland Median and the John Burroughs Renovation;  and A Safety and Security Pulldown.  There’s also information about our HPOZ and an online means to pay your dues.

This is a big step forward in the Association’s efforts to keep Hancock Park residents informed and provide opportunities to participate so take a minute, visit the site and let us know what you think.

Our thanks go to long-time web wrangler Greg Glasser for keeping the previous website up, running and up to date with important information.  Thanks also go to Jennifer DeVore and Cindy Chvatal for researching and helping to build the new website.  And, Greg will continue managing the new site as well as being on our Association’s Board of Directors.

Remember that the holidays are a prime time for opportunistic crime, so be careful and lock your doors, your car doors, and keep the outdoor lights on.  If you are the unfortunate victim of a crime, be sure and file a police report by contacting Officer Dave Cordova.  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.  

If you plan to change your landscaping or make changes to the exterior of your house please contact our City Planner, Kimberly Henry (kimberly.henry@lacity.org) before starting to make sure your plans comply with our Preservation Plan.  The HPOZ Preservation Plan, which regulates our HPOZ can be found at http://www.preservation.lacity.org/hpoz/la/hancock-park   There is also an online form you can fill out to help speed up the process (http://preservation.lacity.org/hpoz/initial.screening.checklist).  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. 

Thanks for Joining Us at the Annual Meeting 

The Association’s annual meeting was a great success and we thank everyone who participated and attended. In particular we thank the staff of 3rd Street Elementary School for hosting the meeting, the representatives of the Council Office and the LAPD for attending and answering questions. And most of all though we thank our members for attending and for continuing to work hard making Hancock Park the great place it is. 

The Association also elected Tim Allyn, Martin Beck, Greg Glasser, Peter Gorelick, Susan Grossman, William Newby, Cami Taylor, Jon Vein, and James Wolf as members of the Board of Directors. All members of the Board of Directors chair and participate in the Association’s committee work. Any Association member, meaning any Hancock Park resident, can also serve on a committee and we ask you to consider doing so. Just a few areas our committees work is planting trees, pushing the city to fix our concrete streets, manage filming, and preserving our historic neighborhood. It doesn’t take a lot of time, but steady work keeps progress happening. So think about and contact us via the website. 

And speaking of the website, we’ve got a new one and it’s fantastic. Take a look and tell us what you think: https://hphae1.wildapricot.org/ The website is one of the many things your dues pay for. 

Remember - if you plan to change your landscaping or make changes to the exterior of your house please contact our City Planner, Kimberly Henry (kimberly.henry@lacity.org) to make sure your plans comply with our Preservation Plan. The HPOZ Preservation Plan, which regulates our HPOZ can be found at http://www.preservation.lacity.org/hpoz/la/hancock-park There is also an online form you can fill out to help speed up the process (http://preservation.lacity.org/hpoz/initial.screening.checklist) Remember to and lock your car, secure your house and, if you are the unfortunate victim of a crime, be sure and file a police report by contacting Officer Dave Cordova. 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. 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.

Please join us on Tuesday, October 24 at 7 PM at Third Street School for our homeowners association annual meeting. We will have updates on security, trees, historic preservation, development and other fascinating topics. If you have paid dues for the year, you will receive a ballot for HPHA Board elections in the mail after September 15. See you there!

As part of the Sidewalks LA Repair Program and to bring our sidewalks into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) the city is evaluating our parkway trees. If a tree is determined to be dead or dying (with no prospect of recovery), or if the tree is tearing up the sidewalk such that the sidewalk isn’t accessible and there is no safe way to trim the tree’s roots, the city will initiate the process for removing the tree. As part of this process the tree is evaluated by a city arborist, the Department of Historic Resources and the HPOZ Board review the analysis, the Council Office consults with the Association and the Association has our arborist do a second evaluation. This is to ensure that every possible effort will be taken to save the tree. If a tree must be removed it will be replaced.

There has been some misunderstanding recently that the City is engaged in wholesale tree removal without review or input and that’s not the case. Last year, in the process of doing much needed tree trimming, the City took it upon themselves to cut down trees that many of us believed were salvageable. The Association, the Council Office, the Department of Historic Resources and the HPOZ Board, and the City’s Department of Urban Forestry have worked together to develop a process where no parkway tree is removed unless it is unavoidable for safety reasons.

If you do know of a dangerous sidewalk and want an immediate repair or if you’re disabled and there is a broken sidewalk call 311 or file a request at the Safe Sidewalks LA website – http://sidewalks.lacity.org/

So, if you plan to change your landscaping or make changes to the exterior of your house please contact our City Planner, Kimberly Henry (kimberly.henry@lacity.org) to make sure your plans comply with our Preservation Plan. The HPOZ Preservation Plan, which regulates our HPOZ can be found at http://www.preservation.lacity.org/hpoz/la/hancock-park. There is also an online form you can fill out to help speed up the process: http://preservation.lacity.org/hpoz/initial.screening.checklist

Unfortunately, crime continues to be a problem so be sure and lock your car, secure your house and, if you are the unfortunate victim of a crime, be sure and file a police report by contacting Officer Dave Cordova. 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. 

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.

http://www.preservation.lacity.org/hpoz/la/hancock-park

Councilman David Ryu has successfully proposed that $800,000 be included in the Fiscal Year 2017-2018 City Budget for repairing our concrete, with concrete. Thanks go to the Association’s Street Committee: William Newby, Tim Allyn, Jon Vein, Cindy Chvatal and Jim Wolf for tirelessly pushing the City to follow its own regulations. The Hancock Park Preservation Plan explicitly calls out that our concrete streets be maintained.

A few years ago the City had started repaving concrete streets in our area with asphalt. As we all know the asphalt looks good for about a year and then pot holes start forming, the ground becomes uneven, and the streets are actually in worse shape than they were before being covered with asphalt. Concrete lasts for at least 50 years; Hancock Park’s streets were paved in the 1920’s so we’re coming up on a 100 year anniversary, and many of these ancient streets are in better shape the newly paved asphalt ones.

Los Angeles is a big and diverse city and it is often difficult to get a focus on the specific issues of a small area. This is where your Homeowners Association plays its part. By pushing, demanding, investigating and more pushing the Streets Committee was successful in challenging the original, highly overinflated numbers estimated by the City, forced the City engineers to do some real analysis and design work and encouraged our Council Office to support this effort. Remember, don’t give up; dig in!

The block captains met at Marlborough School and one of the biggest items was safety. Crime is up and the best defense is our block captain network. Do you know your block captain? If not, contact the Association and we’ll let you know. If your block doesn’t have a block captain please consider becoming one. An alert network of homeowners keeps crime down. If you are the unfortunate victim of a crime, be sure and file a police report by contacting Officer Dave Cordova. 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.

The HPOZ Preservation Plan — http://www.preservation.lacity.org/hpoz/la/hancock-park regulates our HPOZ. Contact our City Planner, Kimberly Henry (kimberly.henry@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.