Westwood Neighborhood Council Discusses Subway Route, Digital Billboards

A visit from Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom sparked a lively debate at Wednesday evening’s Westwood Neighborhood Council meeting, whose agenda also included much-discussed topics such as subway construction and neighborhood grants.

Meeting at the Westwood Presbyterian Church, the council, led by its president, Jerry Brown, updated attendees about the progress of the organization’s developing website and the review of proposed land-use projects, and allowed a briefing from Field Deputy Sarah Mallory, from Councilmember Paul Koretz’s office, about parking issues in the neighborhood.

Apron Parking
“The report from the Department of Transportation is that they’re recommending apron parking be allowed without a permit system,” Mallory said. This recommendation, Mallory added, was better than what the council had hoped for, because they had anticipated having to go through a process involving costly fees and registration at the DOT. However, she added, “They did recommend a permit system for parking parallel to the curb in front of your driveway. So you would be able to block your driveway in the curb lane, but that would require a permit system.”

Digital Ads on Big Blue Buses

But it was after Mayor Bloom introduced himself to the assembled group and expressed his goal to make public transit more efficient that attendees broached the subject of Santa Monica-based transportation and its impact on Westwood traffic.

“Our community, we’re not big fans of blinking digital billboards,” said Steve Sann, chair of the Westwood Community Council. “And we’re very unhappy to learn that Big Blue Bus is going to be now sending thousands of buses that come into [Westwood Village] with blinking digital billboards.” Sann added that residents consider the action to be both a safety hazard and a visual blight to the community. The mayor countered, saying that the digital ads will face the curbs and don’t, in fact, “blink” but are “deliberately slow,” changing every 10 seconds. Also, he added, this is a pilot project for Santa Monica.

Westside Subway Extension

Council member Kurt Smalberg introduced a motion proposing an above-ground alternative to the MTA’s current design for the Westside subway route to the Century City station. “We’re trying to avoid the subway from going under some Westwood homes between here and the [Century City] station that’s been proposed.” While Smalberg suggested something akin to New York City’s cross-town 42nd Street shuttle, council president Brown responded that the “top of the tunnel will be 70-100 feet below street level,” according to the MTA, which also said that the noise and vibration would be substantially lower than federal guidelines. “I bought my house in December 1965,” said attendee Carol Spencer. “In the early years, I would have been terrified. But with the [available] technology, I don’t have that fear.” The motion was defeated.

Neighborhood Purposes Grants

Representatives from Warner Avenue Elementary School, Emerson Middle School and Brentwood Westwood Symphony Orchestra requested Neighborhood Purposes Grants from the council. Andy Horn from Warner requested $5,000 to provide tablet technology to teachers. Dara Williams from Emerson requested $10,000 to support a music program. Finally, Brentwood Westwood Symphony Orchestra requested $5,000. After much discussion about the merits of each proposal, in addition to breaking down the council’s $40,500 annual budget, the council agreed to fund 80% of each organization’s request.

Other items on the agenda included an approved motion to support the mission of the Coalition for Veterans Land, saving veterans’ land for direct services to veterans, and a proposal to create outreach banners, a subject that will be discussed further at the next council meeting, set for Dec. 14 at the Westwood Presbyterian Church.