Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council. Special Board Meeting. Wednesday, August 24, :00 PM

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1 Issam Najm, President; Susan Gorman-Chang, Vice President; Gabriel Khanlian, Secretary; Andrew Krowne, Treasurer 1; David Balen, Signer 2; Cheri Derohanian; Alex Kim; Becky Leveque; Jennifer Milbauer; Mel Mitchell Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council Special Board Meeting Wednesday, August 24, :00 PM Porter Ranch Community School Mason Avenue, Porter Ranch, California Porter Ranch Community School is located at the southeast corner of Sesnon and Mason The parking lot is accessible from Mason PUBLIC INPUT AT NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL MEETINGS. The public is encouraged to fill out a Speaker Card to address the Board on any item on the agenda prior to the Board taking action on an item. Comments from the public on agenda items will be heard only when the respective item is being considered. Comments on other matters not appearing on the Agenda that are within the Board s subject matter jurisdiction will be heard during the General Public Comment period. THE AMERICAN WITH DISABILITIES ACT As a covered entity under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the City of Los Angeles does not discriminate on the basis of disability and, upon request, will provide reasonable accommodation to ensure equal access to its programs, services and activities. Sign language interpreters, assistive listening devices, and other auxiliary aids/or services may be provided upon request. If you require language translation services and to ensure availability of services, please make your request at least three business days (72 hours) prior to the meeting you wish to attend by contacting the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment at (818) PUBLIC ACCESS OF RECORDS In compliance with Government Code section , non-exempt writings that are distributed to a majority or all of the board in advance of a meeting, may be viewed at or at the scheduled meeting. In addition, if you would like a copy of any record related to an item on the agenda, please contact the PRNC Secretary, Gabriel Khanlian at GabrielKhanlian@PRNC.org. Our posting location is at Corbin Avenue, Northridge, CA on a bulletin board facing Corbin Street that is available 24 hours a day. A member of the public can send an to all the PRNC Board members at board@prnc.org, or can leave us a voic message at The PRNC website is at: For information on the PRNC process for Board action reconsideration, stakeholder grievance policy, or any other procedural matter related to this Council, please consult the PRNC Bylaws. The PRNC bylaws are available on our website at Page 1

2 Issam Najm, President; Susan Gorman-Chang, Vice President; Gabriel Khanlian, Secretary; Andrew Krowne, Treasurer 1; David Balen, Signer 2; Cheri Derohanian; Alex Kim; Becky Leveque; Jennifer Milbauer; Mel Mitchell Meeting Agenda Wednesday, August 24, 2016; 6:00 PM 1. Welcome President, Issam Najm 6:00 2. Roll Call Secretary, Gabriel Khanlian 6:00 6:05 3. President s Comment President, Issam Najm 6:05 6:10 4. Discussion and possible action on approving the submittal of the attached Letter of 6:10 7:00 Concern to the City s Planning Department regarding the planned Commercial Development on the corner of Rinaldi Street and Porter Ranch Drive, and to authorize the Board President, or Board Vice President in the absence of the President, to make comments at the Commission Meeting on behalf of the PRNC. The letter will be submitted to the Planning Commission during its meeting on August 25, Vice President, Susan Gorman-Chang 5. Motion to authorize the Board President, or Vice President in the absence of the 7:00 7:10 President, to speak on behalf of the PRNC at meetings and hearings of government agencies, City, or regulatory agencies, as well as to media outlets, related to the Aliso Canyon Gas Leak Jennifer Milbauer 6. Motion to appoint Gabriel Khanlian as Bank Card Holder since he is tasked with 7:10 7:15 purchasing various supplies for Board meetings and to get material printed in advance of each meeting Andrew Krowne BREAK 7:15 7:25 7. Motion to formally agree that the Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council become a 7:25 7:30 member of the Neighborhood Council Sustainability Alliance. The Neighborhood Council Sustainability Alliance advances sustainability and resilience across Los Angeles through advocacy, sharing of best practices, and community action Vice President, Susan Gorman-Chang 8. Motion Appoint Vice President Susan Gorman-Chang to represent PRNC at the 7:30 7:35 NCSA Meetings Alex Kim 9. Motion to purchase Business Cards for Board Members at a cost of no more than $25 7:35 7:40 per member David Balen 10. Motion to approve expenditure of up to $500 for the purchase of usable and 7:40 7:50 environmentally friendly PRNC-labeled items (e.g., reusable shopping bags) to be handed out to visitors of the PRNC booth at the Valley Disaster Preparedness fair scheduled for October 1, Cheri Derohanian 11. Board Members Comments & Announcements All 7:50 8: General Public Comments Comments from the public on non-agenda items within 8:00 8:30 the Board s jurisdiction 13. Motion to Adjourn the Meeting President, Issam Najm 8:30 Note: Time allocations for agenda items are approximate and may be changed at the discretion of the Board President. Attachments: Draft Board Letter to Planning Commission Information on the Neighborhood Councils Sustainability Alliance Page 2

3 August 25, 2016 Sent via electronic mail to: Ms. May Sirinopwongsagon Department of City Planning Expedited Processing Section 200 N. Spring Street, Room 763 Los Angeles, CA (213) Re: Comments on Proposed Commercial Development in Porter Ranch City Planning Case No. CPC DA Dear Ms. Sirinopwongsagon: Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments on the commercial development planned in Porter Ranch. This development is named The Village at Porter Ranch and will be located on the northwest corner of Rinaldi Street and Porter Ranch Drive. The Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council (PRNC) has been following the overall planning effort and has provided input on this Development in the past. The PRNC is tasked with advocating for our community in front of City Council and City government. To that end, the PRNC is keenly aware of the concerns of many members of the community about the impact of this development on Porter Ranch, and on about the changes in the terms of the agreement between the City and the developer. With this letter, we bring to your attention some of these concerns. We ask that the Planning Commission seriously take these concerns into consideration during its deliberations on this matter. Environmental Impact It is our understanding that the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) was developed in the 1980 s, and its conclusions and recommendations seem to continue to be carried forward through 2016 and beyond. First, the actual report is not readily available to the public to review and understand. We are confident that it is available somewhere and would ask that we obtain an electronic copy of it so we can properly post it on our website. More importantly, we are concerned that many of the assumptions made almost 30 years ago about the environmental impact of this project may no longer be valid. For example, even without any traffic contribution from the new hundreds of residential units being constructed along with the commercial development, there is already a significant traffic congestion problem on Rinaldi Street that spills over from the 118 Freeway traffic each day. At t he time the EIR

4 Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council was written, the 118 Freeway hardly had any traffic on it, let alone cause congestion on side streets. With the addition of the residential and commercial developments, it is safe to assume that there will be far more congestion problems that will impact the community greatly, not only from an inconvenience perspective, but also from a health perspective as we breathe the vehicle emissions during the daily periods of stop- and- go traffic on Rinaldi Street. Unfortunately, this street crosses all streets that lead into the community heading north from the San Fernando Valley, and therefore, everyone living in the community will encounter its traffic. At a minimum, we believe that a new traffic study is needed to update the assumptions based on today s traffic conditions. In addition, an EIR developed in the 1980 s would not address the energy and water consumption concerns of today s California. This commercial development, along with the hundreds of homes being built simultaneously, will likely put a significant additional load on an already strained LADWP network that could not have been predicted in the 1980 s. LADWP is implementing an aggressive incentive program to reduce power consumption and promote alternative energy sources. Yet, this development does not appear to have any plans to implement energy conservation measures. In our opinion, this developer should work with LADWP to design and implement state- of- the- art energy conservation measures, and take advantage of the large open parking lot to harness as much of the sun s energy as possible and reduce reliance on the electric grid. For all the above reasons and others, the PRNC asks that a thorough re- examination of the EIR s assumptions regarding this and other environmental impacts be conducted, and not accept the Negative Declaration made by the developer. Agreement Terms Regarding Public Benefits The Porter Ranch Specific Plan formalized under City Ordinance 166,068 in July 1990 included specific provisions related to Public Benefits to the Community that the developer and the City agreed to. The PRNC is concerned that these provisions have been either removed or greatly reduced in the current project plan. We ask that the developer maintain its commitment to provide these benefits to the Community as originally agreed to, and that the City does not approve this project without these benefits in place. The specific benefits were stated as follows: 1. The construction of a community meeting facility to seat no less than 300 people, and should be constructed so as to be divided into four separate meeting areas of 75 seats each. The developer seems to be asserting that they have met this requirement by the multipurpose room added at the Porter Ranch Community School (PRCS). However, the PRNC is concerned that the community s use of this facility is allowed under an existing agreement between the City and LAUSD, which expires around The agreement does not provide for any guarantees of the continued availability of the room for the community. Moreover, the facility is not available to the community at all times. Its use is limited by LAUSD to specific hours of the day. In addition, any community use of this room during weekend days is contingent on LAUSD assigning a staff member to open the facility. It is our understanding that there have been instances when LAUSD denied community access to the facility over the weekend because they could not find a staff member able to provide 2

5 Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council access to the room. While we understand LAUSD s need to control access to the school grounds and facilities, these limitations are in clear conflict with the intended plan of providing a community room that is available to the community without limitations. From our perspective, we assert that this requirement has not yet been met. 2. The dedication to the City a two- acre site for government offices or other municipal buildings and uses, including a public library facility. The developer is now going to replace these two acres with a single community room in the commercial development, and their argument is that the City does not have the resources to build the facilities on this site. Regardless of whether the City currently does or does not have the resources to construct the facilities at this site, this site is intended to be to the benefit of the Community, and it is the community that will need to work with the City to make those resources available, either now or in the future. The PRNC asks that this site remain as part of the agreement and be available to the Community as we move forward. 3. An operational childcare facility for up to 100 children initially, with an ultimate capacity of 250 children. PRNC does not see this facility being proposed anywhere in the current plan. The developer stated at one of the hearings that the Shepherd of the Hills Church across the street has a child- care facility, and somehow that facility is supposed to satisfy this requirement under the agreement. The PRNC does not understand how the child- care facility clearly spelled out in the Specific Plan is being transferred to a private entity over which the City has no jurisdiction! This is not an acceptable modification to the PRNC. 4. Sums equal to one percent (1%) of the permit value of all the commercial buildings under the Specific Plan are to be deposited in an interest- bearing Porter Ranch Art Trust Account, and are to be used in purchasing public art and/or for the capital cost and maintenance cost to display such acquired art with the Specific Plan area. The agreement also calls for the establishment of a third- party entity (aside from City and Developer) to be called the Porter Ranch Arts Council, whose role is to administer such account. This Council was supposed to be created in 2009 or earlier. To our knowledge, this Council was never created, and we are not aware of the creation of any Art Trust Account to date. Since many commercial facilities have already been permitted and constructed as part of the early phases of this development, the PRNC is concerned that the funds have either never been paid by the developer, or have been utilized for other purposes in clear violation of the Agreement. In the final analysis, the PRNC has serious concerns over the progress of the development and its lack of conformance to the requirements of the Porter Ranch Specific Plan, as well as concerns over the environmental and health impacts of the development that may not have been captured by the 30- year old EIR. For these reasons, the PRNC urges the Commission to consider the following: 1. Request that the project be suspended until a thorough update to the technical assumptions of the EIR regarding all the environmental impacts of the project be conducted based on today s conditions. This update should be conducted by a third- party with significant participation of members of the community. The PRNC would be willing to nominate individuals to serve on a 3

6 Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council review committee of the updated EIR. This committee will then submit its review comments to the Commission before the project proceeds to the next step. 2. Request that the developer conforms to the terms of the Specific Plan to the satisfaction of the City and the Community. This request is specific to the Public benefits items discussed in this letter. We hope that the Commission will seriously consider our comments and concerns, and we are ready to discuss our concerns with the Commission at any time. Respectfully Yours, Issam Najm, Ph.D., P.E. Board President Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council cc: PRNC Board Members Councilman Mitchell Englander Mayor Eric Garcetti 4

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8 Neighborhood Council Sustainability Alliance Bylaws Approved 9/13/2015 Article One: Mission The Neighborhood Council Sustainability Alliance (NCSA) advances sustainability and resilience across Los Angeles through advocacy, sharing of best practices, and community action. Article Two: Boundaries The NCSA s area of focus is the City of Los Angeles. Article Three: Membership A. Neighborhood Councils can be members. B. Community Councils or other groups that are democratically elected by their community, composed of varied stakeholders, cover whole neighborhoods, and do not have a neighborhood council can be full members. In the rest of this document, such organizations will be included in the use of the term Neighborhood Council. C. Neighborhood Councils may actively opt in to membership of the NCSA, and if they do, will be publicly listed as members. To do so, Neighborhood Councils will opt in by agendized board vote, and sign a statement that reads: We the (Neighborhood Council) formally agree to be a member of the Neighborhood Council Sustainability Alliance. The Neighborhood Council Sustainability Alliance advances sustainability and resilience across Los Angeles through advocacy, sharing of best practices, and community action. D. Nonprofits, government agencies, and companies can be partners but not members. Article Four: Representation of Member Neighborhood Councils A. Each member Neighborhood Council gets one vote per issue or election. B. Neighborhood Councils are to determine who represents them they are open to selecting as many representatives as they like. For groups who have multiple representatives or additional stakeholders present at the meeting, caucusing is encouraged. C. Neighborhood Council representatives will identify themselves as such when they sign in at meetings, and can be verified later. (We will aspire to use the honor system, with verification as a back-up.) D. If a Neighborhood Council has not appointed a representative, an individual who is a stakeholder of that Neighborhood Council can vote on the Council s behalf. Voters should vote based on the interests of their Neighborhood Council. Article Five: Decision-Making A. When possible, decisions will be made through consensus. If necessary, democratic voting will be utilized. B. When voting is needed at meetings, either a show of hands or roll-call vote can be used. More formal processes, such as ballots, will be necessary for officer elections. C. If remote voting is needed, s or online surveys can be used. September 13, 2015

9 Article Six: NCSA Decisions Regarding Public Policy Position A. If required by a specific member Neighborhood Council, the NCSA shall allow representatives to work through their committees and governing boards to vote on NCSA issues. B. It is possible that on occasion the NCSA will have to work quickly and have members take public policy positions without allowing time for Neighborhood Councils to take positions first. C. Member Neighborhood Councils can take public policy positions that are in opposition to the NCSA position. Article Seven: NCSA Governing Board A. The governing board is composed of 11 to 19 individuals. The executives are members of the governing board. B. Governing board members (with the exception of executives) are elected by a vote of current board members. Governing board members shall serve two-year terms. Governing board members are to be up for renewal two years from the month of their initial appointment. There is no limit to the number of terms that they can serve. C. The governing board sets the direction of the NCSA, sets the meeting agendas, selects and prioritizes issues, is responsible for communications, and establishes committees. D. Governing board members should offer expertise and energy. Factors to consider for governing board membership include: time commitment, expertise, representation of BONC planning areas, participation on committees, ability to represent community viewpoints, and other domains of diversity (including race and ethnicity). E. Governing board members who are not official representatives of a Neighborhood Council cannot vote on public policy positions. F. At any point a governing board member (other than an executive) can be removed by a two-thirds vote of the governing board. G. Bylaws can be changed by a two-thirds vote of the governing board. Article Eight: Executives A. Executives are elected by the member Neighborhood Councils and will serve two-year terms. B. At any point an executive can be removed by a two-thirds vote of the member Neighborhood Councils. C. Executive positions: 1. The chair ensures the effective action of the board in governing and supporting the organization and also oversees board affairs. The chair acts as the representative of the board as a whole and can appoint others to do so. D. Other executive positions are to be determined. Article Nine Committees A. The governing board can create committees. B. Member Neighborhood Council representatives, governing board members, partner organizations, and members of the general public can join committees. September 13, 2015

10 C. Only member Neighborhood Council representatives or governing board members can be committee chairs. D. Each committee must have at least one governing board member. E. Committees cannot take official positions without governing board approval. September 13, 2015