THE VIEW FROM BLAIR HILLS

The Blair Hills Association                               August, 2002                               Edited by Bobbi Gold

BLAIR HILLS COMMUNITY MEETING

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2002

7:00 PM

OHR ELIYAHU ACADEMY

5950 STONEVIEW DRIVE

Agenda:

·         Progress report on Ranger's house

·         Reducing fire hazards

·         Planning for October celebration event

State Park Ranger Dan Raducanu will discuss the house currently under construction in Blair Hills in which he will live as the Baldwin Hills Park Ranger. Culver City Fire Department Inspector Ken Carpenter will speak about reducing fire hazards; this is especially important in such a dry year, and remember that there is brush in the hills on this side of La Cienega Blvd also!

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Baldwin Hills Conservancy Meeting September 12, 6:30 PM

David McNeill, director of the Baldwin Hills Conservancy, writes:

In the interest of increased community participation, the Baldwin Hills Conservancy (BHC) has arranged for a special public meeting at 6:30 p.m., on Thursday, September 12, 2002 at the Anna Pollock Gymnasium on the Foundation for the Junior Blind campus located at 5300 Angeles Vista Blvd., Los Angeles CA.

What makes this meeting important to members of the Blair Hills Association is the pending BHC vote on the approval of the Baldwin Hills Park Master Plan.  Over 700 community members took an active role in developing the plan at the public workshops held throughout the Baldwin Hills Area and during 2000 and 2001.  Since its inception, the BHC has gone to great lengths to honor the significance of the unprecedented community input and preserve the integrity of the conceptual design embodied in the Baldwin Hills Park Master Plan.  Please take this opportunity to personally express your support of the vision for a world-class park that includes the cultural, educational, active and passive recreation components proposed during the extensive community planning effort. You will have the opportunity to comment on the conceptual elements proposed in the plan including, but not limited to: habitat, picnic areas, ball fields, sculpture garden, restaurant, visitor/education center, senior center, and/or golf course.

Other items of interest on the agenda include informational presentations on land conservation priorities in the area and the forthcoming conceptual planning process for the 68-acre Vista Pacifica Scenic site, a.k.a. Kenneth Hahn West.  Both items will have a long lasting impact on the future of the Baldwin Hills and will provide you with valuable insight into the Conservancy's ongoing effort to create your world-class park. Please mark the date on your calendar and attend this special meeting.

Beautification Committee Report (by Cheri Sakai)

Tak Matsuura, Culver City Park Maintenance Supervisor, reports:

1. Blair Hills Park now has a Playground Director M-F from 10AM-2PM!!
2. The park restrooms are cleaned every night.
3. The Ficus trees along the east end of the park are being trimmed from below. What many of us believed were bushes were actually trees. They are in the process of allowing them to grow into trees so the view into the park will be very clear.
4. Three days a week the maintenance crew is at Blair Hills Park to see that the trees and bushes are trimmed, the grass mowed, the playground sand and basketball court cleaned. 
5. A park patrol car checks on the park activities at least once a day and sometimes twice a day after 2:30PM.

Eight Two-Story Homes Being Constructed on Lenawee, says Architect/Owner David Boyd

There will be 8 two story homes being built each with its own separate patio and yard. The 1800 sq. ft. homes should be completed by June of 2003 but will be up for sale by January of 2003.  According to David Boyd, the area around the homes will also be beautified with curbs and attractive landscaping. The property is in City of Los Angeles, adjacent to the Culver City home at 3800 Lenawee Ave.

Mike Boyd, Chief of Maintenance of California State Parks reports:

The fiscal year ended on June 30. The new budget started on July 1, 2002. Mr. Boyd stated that money has been allotted for the fixing up of the Vista Pacifica park area and the hillside along Jefferson Bl. This would include taking down the orange fence and landscaping or fixing up that area for a “dog park”, walking trail, etc. Work has already started in cleaning up the area above Shedd Terrace.

Thank you Mario Arias!!

      Mario is seen daily dragging his trash barrel up and down Lenawee and Jefferson, cleaning up trash, weeds and cutting down the overhanging branches that for years blocked the "Welcome to Blair Hills" and "Culver City" signs along La Cienega. Now we can see them clearly!!

Photos of Baldwin Hills Fire on Blair Hills web site

Jon Melvin, web master, has posted files of the July 7 fire at Kenneth Hahn state park on the Blair Hills web site: http://www.blairhills.org. If you didn't see it in person, you might not realize that a portion of the hillside right next to La Cienega Blvd northbound was burning directly across from the apartment buildings and condos in Blair Hills, in addition to fires further up the hill.

If you'd like to receive occasional e-mails of neighborhood interest, send your e-mail address to Jon Melvin by email.