Winter 2009-2010 - Mar Vista Neighborhood Association
Transcription
Winter 2009-2010 - Mar Vista Neighborhood Association
MAR VISTA A N E I G H B O R H O O D N E W S L E T T E R CONTENTS President’s Message............................. 1 Annual Town Hall Meeting The Backyard Fence............................ 2 Ask Marv Community Profile................................ 3 Flavia Morgan: RECOLLECTING MAR VISTA Neighborhood Happenings............... 4 Staircase Update Charnock Wells Update Do Mar Vistans Vote In Step With LA? Historical Perspective: ....................... 6 Oil In This Thar Mar Vista Hill?! Real Estate MATTERS........................ 8 Closing On A Foreclosure MVLP: The Ground View.................. 10 Saving Water: MOVE THE FESCUE TO THE ‘GOLF COURSE IN THE SKY On The Boulevard.............................. 12 Mitsuwa Marketplace Le Chic Dentist Two New Restaurants Creating Community.........................14 MV Farmers’ Market: A NICHE FOR QUICHE Community Groups: WHERE DO YOU FIT IN? MV Neighborhood Association Board Contemplating MVNA: WHY WE “DUES” IT MV Neighborhood Association Membership Form VIEW WINTER 2009 ANNUAL COMMUNITY MEETING Monday, January 26; 7 p.m. St. Bede’s Church Hope you all had a terrific holiday season. To kick off 2009 with some community spirit, I invite you to our annual town hall meeting on Monday, January 26, 7 p.m., at St. Bede’s Church on the northeast corner of Charnock and Grand View Avenues. It’s a great chance to catch up on what’s happening in the neighborhood and ask questions of people in the know. Councilor Bill Rosendahl will be stopping by to update us on the goings-on at city hall. Local Community Council (MVCC) Chair, Rob Kadota, will be on hand as well. To address your questions about various community issues we have invited: Senior Lead Police Officer, Tom Wicks (crime), MVCC Vice-chair, Albert Olson (traffic), MVCC Vice-chair, Sharon Commins (Mar Vista area plan), MVCC Urban Planning & Land Use Vice-chair, Steve Wallace (Venice Boulevard development), and Mar Vista Landkeepers’ Preservation CFO, Beth Moreno. If you need a lift to the gathering or would like to share a ride, please contact Andie Evenson at 310-999-1748 or [email protected] . In the back of the issue is our annual survey, Creating Community. It presents a chance for you to join one of the growing list of groups in our neigh- P RESIDENT ’ S M ESSAGE borhood -- or help fire up a new one. This is a really terrific opportunity to join like-minded neighbors in an activity that you enjoy …and don’t have to drive to. Upcoming is our biennial board election. Ballots have been mailed to the over 300 households that paid dues last year (thank you all very much for your support). If you haven’t yet received a ballot, you can still pay dues ($20 annually) and vote at the annual meeting. I’d like to take this opportunity to Continued on page 7 Ask Marv Pssst, Neighbor: ...we want to hear from you! This space is meant to mimic neighborly discussion “over the backyard-fence”. It is a place dedicated to your questions, thoughts or concerns for the neighborhood. Please address your inquiries and issues to the attention of Marv {ed note: that’s an acronym for “Mar Vista” and I didn’t get it at first either} c/o the [email protected] . Dear Marv: Dear Marv: Many Mar Vista residents want additional When I moved into my Butler Avenue constraints on housing density increases. But the cul-de-sac more than 30 years ago, there were City is not likely to pass a law restricting development in our area merely because those who T HE B ACKYARD F ENCE live in the area want development curtailed. Even if the other City Councilors supported open fields on the land now leased from such legislation, developers would likely be able to Santa Monica by Windward School. In reget it overturned for several reasons including it sponse to complaints regarding traffic, parkbeing an unlawful "taking" of property (downing and noise the school has been responsive, zoning). We need to pursue an action that will even going so far as to alter construction bring benefits to the entire city while also inhibitplans and to put on hold -- at least tempoing development in our area. My suggested aprarily -- plans to build a Performing Arts proach is to seek revisions to the building code so Center. I am concerned, however, that in as to require more off-street parking for new the long run growth of the school will force apartments, condominiums and "mother-in-law" parking underground and renew other plans or guest cottages. It benefits the City as a whole for expansion. The school's growth inherby inhibiting the further spreading of Manhattanently diminishes our residential quality of like parking problems, while the associated inlife on Butler Avenue. creased costs curtail development in and around - V. S. Mar Vista. Your activism in safeguarding the spirit and feel - M. E. of your neighborhood is most commendable. As you Our neighborhood’s increasing population density as know as well as any, staying vigilant and expressing well as the cars associated with this population boom are your concerns are strategies that serve the whole issues of huge importance to Mar Vistans. All concerned community well. You do well inviting your neighbors residents are invited to join the Mar Vista Community to join the effort. The main phone number for any Council’s Urban Planning/Land Use subcommittee that who wish to communicate directly with Windward meets the third Tuesday of every month. Contact Co-chair School is 310-391-7127. Ken [email protected] for more details. Another contact closer to the City Council itself would be Grieg Asher, Dear Marv: our City Councilor Bill Rosendahl’s Planning Deputy: I have a question regarding a parked car 213-473-7011. Thank you for using this forum to put in front of my house. The owner parks it for forth ideas for our neighbors as well as the attention of our three days and then moves it to another city officials. neighbor’s for three days and then back to our house. This has been going on for many months. It is an eyesore with one flat tire. I know that the police will cite a car that has not moved in 72 hours. But the car owner will move the car within 3 or 4 days. It is Continued on page 11 so frustrating because it is always parked in the middle of the space so no Winter 2009 Mar Vista V I E W ; www.mvna.net p. 2 Flavia Morgan: R EC OLLECTING M AR V ISTA Flavia Morgan’s home is perched on the Ocean View side of Mar Vista Hill, where the sidewalk is at an upward/downward angle. She is its first and only owner -- she and her husband, Chuck, had it built in 1947; she has lived there since July 4 of that year. Flavia was raised in Fairbanks, Alaska, where her father owned (really!) a gold mine. She met Chuck when both were students at UCLA. She was nineteen years old when they married. Before enlisting in the armed services, Chuck earned a degree in math at UCLA. The Second World War separated them, but when he returned, he continued his graduate studies at UCLA, earning an advanced degree in meteorology. He then worked at Los Angeles International Airport for 35 years, and was part of the phenomenal growth of LAX. Chuck was also somewhat of a Renaissance Man; he created wonderful anniversary cards for Flavia every year until his death, all of them displayed on the walls of Flavia’s home. The cards were the subject of a popular KCET television program. One sees Chuck’s art everywhere, providing the house with warmth, humor and a feeling of family history. Of her early years in Mar Vista, Flavia writes: “I had seen an ad in the paper by the Meyer’s Bros. offering GI help in buying a house. You had to find the lot and they would put a choice of three plans on it…. When we moved in on July 4, 1947, Ocean View was somewhat established. I believe the first plots were made in the ‘20’s with large Winter 2009 lots and an alley….I am the only original owner on my street…. When we moved here this was called Venice (later changed to Los Angeles)…. There was a Piggly Wiggly grocery store on the corner of Centinela and Venice. The Red Line went down the middle of Venice Boulevard to Los Angeles. When it rained the area (Venice Boulevard) was completely flooded and the only way to get out was to go up my street and over to Centinela and continue North.” Mar Vista Park and Recreation Center was a big field in 1947, dedicated for recreation but completely bare. Chuck and another of Mar Vista’s fathers used their automobiles and leveled the area, creating the first baseball field for Mar Vista Park. The Morgans raised their two sons, Pat and Bill, in Mar Vista. One lives nearby, the other in Northern California. Pat was in the C OMMUNI T Y P ROFILE first kindergarten class. Flavia recalls that at first the school consisted of temporary bungalows, and there were long lines for the first registration. The parents of the new school pitched in to raise money, and initiated October Fest, now a yearly tradition. The parents’ group purchased the school’s first piano and made many contributions through the years. Flavia was elected President of the PTA, and Chuck was Scout Master of the boy scout troop that met there. Through her PTA Continued on page 11 leadership experience, Mar Vista V I E W ; www.mvna.net p. 3 Staircase Update The response to the Stairway Beautification project has been awesome. Mar Vista's citizens and neighborhood organizations have donated close to $15,000 in matching pledges and volunteer time. We have received letters of support from the principal of Mar Vista Elementary School, from Councilor Bill Rosendahl, from Westdale, Hilltop and MVNA Neighborhood Associations; Mar Vista Community Council's Recreation and Open Space Committee is our sponsor; and four of the five homeowners who live adjacent to the stairway have given written support and permission to enter their property. I made a drawing of how the stairway might look. My friends Sue Hirschkoff and Samira Tamir helped with the budget and paperwork, and Tom Ponton reviewed the application. With two hours to spare, Sue and I walked our Stairway Beautification grant application into Councilor Bill Rosendahl's office in West Los Angeles last October 21, 2008. I've received notification that the application was received, and we will hear whether we will be N EIGHBORHOOD awarded $10,000 in matching funds ~ Roseann Herman toward the end of January. Until then, we wait and hope. Thanks for the support, Mar Vista! Charnock Wells Update: S ANTA M ONICA ’ S PROPOSAL TO REVIVE ITS WELL - WATER FACILITY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF W INDWARD S CHOOL At last report, over concern for many objections raised by its Mar Vistan neighbors, Santa Monica’s City Council (SMCC) commissioned an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Charnock Wells project. We had hoped that the EIR would go a long way toward resolving local objections, but to our disappointment it did not. Therefore in response, on September 25 the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC) sent a detailed letter to Santa Monica’s engineering department expressing concerns about: (a) the visual impact of an industrial plant in a residential neighborhood with fifteen 24-feet-high filtration tanks looming over adjacent homes. (b) unresolved questions about noise levels from pumping machinery and truck traffic. (c) unanswered questions about potential hazards from transportation of hazardous waste and possible spills. (d) mitigating truck traffic in residential neighborhoods by creating an alternative route off Sawtelle. (e) the condition of the old pipes that serve the wells. A main thrust of the letter was that it was the neighboring community of Mar Vista, rather than the distant political entity of Santa Monica, that should properly select among the various solutions proposed for dealing with these problems. The project’s visual effect on the neighborhood was of utmost concern. Several neighbors -supported by your Mar Vista Neighborhood Association (MVNA), MVCC and Los Angeles City Counselor Rosendahl -- had suggested that the filtration tanks be buried. The EIR found that burying the tanks would involve greater expense, a longer construction peContinued on page 9 riod and more construction noise, all of which it deemed unfeasible. W I NTER 2009 Mar Vista V I E W ; www.mvna.net p. 4 Do Mar Vistans Vote In Step With LA? Like you, I’m generally weary from the was about eight percentage points higher recent election and happy to have my life than the City as a whole. Our voters defeated back from the media. Still, in the aftermath I Proposition 4 (waiting period and parental wonder how voting results from our neighnotification before termination of minor’s borhood compare with those from the whole pregnancy) by a scorching 73.3%, as comof the City of Los Angeles. After all, we have pared with 60% Citywide. We trashed special concerns about traffic, transportation, Proposition 6 (police and law enforcement policing, education and so forth. It is confunding; criminal penalties and laws) by ceivable that taking those concerns into the 80.2% as compared with 71.3% for all of LA. voting booth could produce results that are While the high-profile Proposition 8 (samedifferent from those sex marriage) was rejected by a 57.8% vote in produced by voters in LA as a whole, our area trounced it by H APPENINGS the rest of the City. 74.2%. Our vote against Proposition 9 (victims’ rights) was about ten points higher than The catchment of our Mar Vista Neighall of LA, and our vote against Proposition 10 borhood Association (MVNA) is roughly the (bonds for alternative fuel vehicles and reshape of a ‘nibbled rectangle’, delineated by newable energy) was about eight points Venice and Palms Boulevards; Centinela and higher. the 405-freeway. The northwest corner between Grandview and Palms Boulevards is It is interesting that the two ‘social tolermissing. Aligning our boundaries with the ance’ propositions, numbers 4 and 8, were City’s precincts is a little tricky. The Los Andefeated by a margin approximately halfgeles County Registrar posts a host of inforagain as large (~ 15%) as the margin over the mation including maps and all current and rest of Los Angeles by which we defeated the past election results on their website, other propositions, numbers 6, 9 and 10 www.lavote.net. MVNA results below are (~ 9%). Thus while we’re pretty reflective of approximated from the voting proportions of the City of Los Angeles as a whole, perhaps a three precincts; these are wholly or substancase could be made that we vote a little more tially contained within its boundaries. ‘culturally liberal’? Still, there’s not a lot of evidence Our votes seem to track the Voting Results, Approximate % Voting Results, Contest: City of Los increase of MVNA’s for latent MVNA Angeles (COLA) vote over COLA’s City’s at large. Our neighborhood secessionist has less diversity of opinion than Presidential Obama; 84.2% Obama; 76.3% + 8% movements is found overall among the whole Prop 4 (paren+ 13% No; 73.3% No; 60% here, of the City. Thus when the City tal notification) wouldn’t voted one way, we voted the same Prop 6 (crime + 9% No; 80.2% No; 71.3% you agree? direction only more so. There issues) was no race where we would have Prop 8 (same+ 16% No; 74.2% No; 57.8% elected a different candidate or sex marriage) ~ John where our majority opinion on a Prop 9 (victim’s No; 61.0% + 10% No; 51.4% Houck proposition differed from that of rights) and the City as a whole (Table 1). Prop 10 (alter- No; 61.1% + 8% Sara Roos No; 53.2% native energy) Our vote for President-elect Table 1. Select voting results within MVNA compared with the whole City’s Obama, 84.2% of those cast, W I NTER 2009 Mar Vista V I E W ; www.mvna.net p. 5 Oil In This Thar Mar Vista Hill? In the early 1920's there were oil wells in Venice, oil wells in the Baldwin Hills, and oil wells drilling on May Rindge's Malibu estate. So why were there no oil rigs on Mar Vista Hill? Certainly there was interest in our location. By 1926, seven oil companies had either purchased or held leases on land in Ocean Park Heights. Oilman George Getty, father of dications and has several times been considered for a possible test by large and small companies.... The Ocean Park Heights district will have a drilling well within the next two weeks, [according to] officials of the Union Oil Company." By July of 1925, Union Oil Company's test well had reached a depth of 6878 feet, but no signs of oil had been found. However in their Dominguez Hills wildcat well, Union Oil Company drilled below 7000 H ISTORICAL P ERSPECTIVE feet before finding oil, establishing a new depth record for California. The DomJ. Paul Getty, bought a lot on the southwest inguez Hills well, like the Ocean Park Heights corner of Grand View and Palms in 1923. well, had shown no indications of oil to a This property was held between 1936 and depth of 7000 feet. 1947 by Ada Oil Company, intriguingly The company would have continued drillnamed for the town where George and Sarah ing here, but loss of a string of drill pipe Getty wooed as students of Ohio Northern stopped operations. Numerous other meUniversity. Most of the land on Mar Vista chanical problems resulted in closing the test Hill between Palms and National Boulevards well for repairs. By the end of 1925, Union was purchased by a Union Oil Company diOil had abandoned the test well, and as a rerector in 1926. Standard Oil Company, Susult of this dry hole, Marland Oil Company perior Oil Company, the Lloyd Corporation relinquished their claim on Clover Field. In (owners of the Ventura oil field), and South 1926, using park bonds the City of Santa Basin Oil Company all owned or leased lots Monica purchased the 170-acre Clover Field sized 1-100 acres on the hill. Marland Oil site. Airport Park included an airfield and an Company leased the 170-acre Clover [Air] 18 hole golf course. 10 acres of that Santa Field to its west in 1925. Monica Municipal Golf Course are today the The Ocean Park Heights oil district was site of the Santa Monica College Bundy considered to be an extension of the Baldwin Campus, located in Mar Vista. Hills oil district, and its petroleum possibilities The abandoning of exploration in this had been discussed for many years. Accordarea has a more complex context. First, Los ing to the L.A. Times (Jan. 15, 1925): "The Angeles was in fact awash with oil, and the phenomenal success which has attended the result was a drastic drop in the price per barwildcatting operations of the Union Oil rel of crude oil during the 1920's. At the Company for the last several years, resulting same time, throughout this decade houses in the discovery of a major field each year for were being raised in Mar Vista and the inherthree years, is one of the factors which is ent value of Mar Vista Hill's elevation prestimulating interest in the Ocean Park sumably contributed to rising property values Heights project. But independent of this, the here. district is said to show favorable structural inW I NTER 2009 Mar Vista V I E W ; www.mvna.net p. 6 Thus residential needs were becoming important. In 1920, Bob Overbeck built a home on the northwest corner of Grand View and Charnock. According to his son, Randy, the owner of the property across Grand View from Overbeck's home planned to drill for oil, but Bob Overbeck didn't want an oil well across the street from his house. As a forerunner of the sort of community activism that has come to characterize our neighborhood [see Charnock Wells story on page 4], complaints from Overbeck and his neighbors, coupled with low oil prices, stopped the drilling. Leavened by economic reality, early activism on Mar Vista Hill prevailed and there has never been an oil well operated in the Mar Vista oil field. Note that these same politics of money and culture dictated a very different outcome when it came to St Bede's Episcopal Church. Overbeck didn't want a church across the street from his house any more than he wanted an oil well. But without the pressure of market forces, and in spite of the objection of neighbors, California's Episcopalian Governor Goodwin Knight was able to obtain approval for building of the church. [ed. note: Our MVNA annual meeting will be held at this location in January; see story on front page]. Thus market and social forces (cost of land, resident's rights) coupled with serendipity (testwell problems) in the 20's may have resulted in the environment we enjoy today, free of industrial activity. It is amusing to note that if the Union Oil Company's wildcat well had produced oil, Mar Vistans would not have to deal with the Santa Monica Airport -- rather there would be oil derricks on top of Mar Vista hill instead of our Little League fields and community garden. It has been claimed that there are several capped wells on our hill waiting for the price of oil to go up. However environmental issues and aesthetics would most likely prevent drilling for oil on Mar Vista hill, regardless ~ Glen Howell of the price of a barrel of oil. W I NTER 2009 Message, Contin- thank the incumbent ued from page 1 board members for their considerable service over the last 2 years: Vice-President, Bryan Gordon; Treasurer, Susan Black-Feinstein; Secretary, Roseann Herman; block party impresario, Renee Marcus; computer whiz, Cary Gordon; and ad rep, Michael Millman. I’d also like to thank those board members who’ve decided not to run again: Victor Paddock, John Houck (who edited this fine newsletter for the past five years), Steven Boskin and Rob Kadota, who’ll be continuing their work on the Mar Vista Community Council. Their contributions to the Mar Vista community in time and effort have been generous indeed. Finally, a welcome to three new candidates, Andrea Evenson, Tara Mulski, and Sara Roos, our current newsletter editor. If you haven’t already, please sign up to receive our free monthly e–newsletter on our website: www.mvna.net . Be well, MVNA Board President Dan Jackson Mar Vista V I E W ; www.mvna.net p. 7 Closing On A Foreclosure Many properties on the market today are “bank-owned”, which typically means that the banks acquired them through foreclosures their defaulted mortgage loans by offering the properties for sale. These listings may present bargain opportunities to potential buyers but there are some distinctive features of R EAL E STATE MATTERS these offerings about which buyers should be aware. Joe Hernandez of RE/MAX Westside Properties represents a number or deeds in lieu of foreclosure. Now the of bank clients in these transactions: banks are trying to recoup at least a part of Renée Marcus: How does the bank set a price on foreclosed properties? Joe Hernandez: The bank usually sends two agents to do evaluations. They call these Broker Price Opinions or BPO’s. Some of my clients ask for one BPO and then they also send out their appraiser. RM: In the current market, might a bank accept less than asking-price simply to get a bad loan off its books? JH: Most of my bank clients price their listings below the current market rate. On occasion they will offer to pay some closing costs for the buyer. Only if the property has been on the market more than 60 days is the bank likely to consider an offer below asking-price. In fact, our listings usually sell quickly and sometimes have multiple offers. RM: Does the commission structure in these deals allow a buyer to retain an agent without having to pay the agent’s commission? JH: Some of my lenders offer a full 3% commission to both sides. On occasion they will offer a 4% commission to the buyer’s agent or a bonus. Some of my clients pay a straight 5%, or 2½% to each side, but these lenders also on occasion will offer incentives as well. RM: Assume that the prospective buyer has decent credit and is willing to pay 20% down, conditioned on the selling bank’s providing a mortgage for the remaining 80%. Would a typical selling bank go for that offer? JH: Some of the banks I work with have incentive rates to use their banks for the financing and others do not offer financing at all. RM: What useful function can the buyer’s broker perform in these bank-owned transactions? JH: The buyer’s agent can make sure that the buyer has been pre-approved and can deliver a wellprepared package to the listing agent (pre-approval letter, verification of funds, FICA score, etc.). This will help the listing agent and the bank’s asset manager in making recommendations and decisions. The buyer’s agent should also stay on top of the closing because in these transactions the banks usually assess per-diem penalties if the transaction does not close on schedule due to delays caused by the buyer. RM: Some of these houses will be in poor condition. How should buyers protect themselves in that situation? JH: Many of our bank-owned listings need repairs; buyers should know that some will not qualify for financing due to their poor condition. The buyer’s appraiser and lender will have to address this issue. ~ Renée Marcus W I NTER 2008 Mar Vista V I E W ; www.mvna.net p. 8 Charnock Wells, Continued from page 4 However in light of local objections, Santa Monica reconsidered this position, subsequently proposing to bury some tanks, reduce the aboveground height of some others, place some vessels on their sides, and redesign and relocate some buildings. The reconfigured design was described as “of a lower profile and also more consistent with the visual character of the area and is in keeping with the desires of the neighborhood residents…” This revised proposal was presented in a public, informational meeting at Windward School on November 20 attended by among others, Albert Olson representing MVCC, Dan Jackson representing MVNA, and John and Beverly Jones, neighbors living on Purdue Avenue near the project. In addition to describing design changes, Santa Monica representatives stated that (a) the existing pipes should not be a problem because they have continuously been in use, (b) the noise mitigation steps proposed in the EIR should be effective but if not, Santa Monica is open to further mitigation steps, and (c) an alternative truck route from Sawtelle had been objected to by Windward School officials. The matter was scheduled for review by the full SMCC on November 25, and concerned Mar Vistans were mustered through a flyer distributed by MVNA. At the meeting, Santa Monica’s effort to revive its long-time water source was applauded by DWP and the Metropolitan Water District. Albert Olson and John Jones also expressed appreciation for the steps taken so far by Santa Monica to deal with various neighborhood concerns, but noted that some concerns yet remain. Their remarks about the need for noise mitigation got no response. The SMCC formally approved the EIR, thereby adopting the mitigation steps recommended therein, and approvW I NTER 2008 ing the project’s commencement. Santa Monica is setting out to get bids from contractors and construction might begin next summer. It is Santa Monica’s hope that water will begin to flow again in 2010. Olson observes that while Santa Monica has made substantial concessions to neighborhood opinion on aesthetics issues, our concerns about noise control and hazardous waste management have not been allayed. At present the neighborhood’s options seem limited to keeping an eye on the project to determine whether these issues have been dealt with before the facility commences operation. If we are not satisfied, the whole community, including MVCC, your MVNA and all affected residents, will once again have to raise our voices to be heard all the way over into Santa Monica. Mar Vista V I E W ; www.mvna.net ~ John Houck p. 9 Saving Water: Move The Fescue To ‘The Golf Course In The Sky’! Our water supply is dangerously low due to record dry conditions and other environmental factors. How can we ‘Go Green’ and keep our landscapes filled with flowers and leafy plants? Many Mar Vistans acknowledge the dawning of an age of lawn-free life or little-lawn life. They have replaced their lawn with low water Mediterranean plants, bark and hard cape. Examples layers prevent any light from reaching the grass, which therefore dies within two months. 2)Solarizing is a variation of the layer approach but the lawn is covered with a plastic tarp for six weeks, during which time the grass dies. 3)Finally, the sure-fire way is to use an herbicide such as Roundup®. Spray it once or twice and in 7-10 days your “fescue has moved on to that golf course in MVLP: T HE G ROUND V IEW the sky”. Roundup® is absorbed by the plant and root are abundant in the neighborhood; you system but does not have a soil residual. can get many ideas by strolling down the Many dread removing lawn, so consider these 3600 and 3700 blocks of Mountain View alternative ways of saving water: and Ocean View or by surfing the internet. • Water the yard only before 8:00 a.m.; this can save approximately 25 gallons of water Removing lawn is not difficult and is per day. best undertaken during wintertime; now • Install a smart sprinkler controller. This is the perfect time of year. Three reccan save approximately 40 gallons per day. ommendations for removing your lawn follow below. Not recommended is to • Sweep, rather than hose-down driveways and sidewalks, saving 150 gallons each time. hire a crew that just skims off the top of the lawn since this practice leaves the • Maintain your sprinkler system, repairing root system intact. The following options leaks, overspray and broken sprinkler heads: are better: save up to 500 gallons a 1)Layering, which avoids chemimonth! cals but takes time. Cover the turf with 6 or more layers of cardboard and add 4-6 inches of mulch. The ‘Going Green’ means saving water and keeping the flowers, shrubs and ground covers as part of the landscaping. ~ Beth Moreno W I NTER 2009 Mar Vista V I E W ; www.mvna.net p. 10 one else can park, plus it looks so ugly! Is there another note that I can leave on the window to ask if he will move the car? Does the MVNA have any policy to deal with this? Thanks for your help! -R. S. Ask Marv, Continued from page 2 The MVNA has no policy regarding municipal legalities. As you note, the owner is within his legal rights moving the car every three days. One neighborhood resident papers such “bad neighbor” vehicles with polite but persistent requests to move the vehicle elsewhere. This presumes a right to manage the public space in front of your house for, say, aesthetic reasons. Alternatively you might consider approaching the car’s owner and explain that you feel the car is inconsiderately parked and in need of a little TLC. This sort of confrontation isn’t for everyone, but it would be an honest approach to a situation that while irritating, you may not have much right to affect. It’s possible our area’s Senior Lead Police Officer, Tom Wicks, might be of assistance as well: 310-622-3973. W I NTER 2009 Dear Marv: Just wanted to tout the usefulness of the online Resources Guide to Mar Vista neighbors. We have found and used a number of tradespeople from this site and consider it a helpful guide to local services. Just go to: www.mvna.net and click on "Neighborhood Resources" -- you'll find everything from Handymen to Dog Walkers. It's an easy, atyour-fingertips way to connect with someone your neighbor may have used, and recommends. -J. B. Thanks for this measure of some success! Helping neighbors reach out to neighbors is really our “raison d’être”. Flavia was asked to work in the Protocol Office at L.A. City Hall, where she met and entertained many important national and world leaders. She was also a volunteer for the World Affairs Council and hosted many foreign dignitaries for the U.S. State Department; in 1984, she and Chuck hosted one of the International Olympic Committee Directors. Among other recipients of her hospitality were Britain’s Prince Charles and Emperor Hirohito of Japan. Flavia’s home is filled with mementoes of a life lived well and happily—she describes her life as “enjoyable”, and I’d add that it has been one dedicated to her family and to the community in which she lives. Her enthusiasm and willingness to serve her community have enhanced her enjoyment and earned the respect and gratitude of ~ Roseann Herman others. Profile, Continued from page 3 Mar Vista V I E W ; www.mvna.net p. 11 Restaurant Review: M ITSUWA M ARKETPLACE Mitsuwa Marketplace (formerly Yaohan), located in the mini-mall north of CVS (formerly SavOn) on the northeast corner of Centinela and Venice Boulevards, is a world unto itself. It houses a Japanese food court, Shisheido cosmetics, Japanese-language videos and books, gizmos, a beauty shop, a dry cleaning shop, and a market selling beautiful fresh seafood and meats, vegetables, and foods so Japanese that there’s no English at all on the labels. The market is always filled with shoppers; if you know Japanese food and ingredients, this is The Place. It’s an adventure for the rest of us. Recently, several of us shared lunch at the Mitsuwa food court. We studied the menus and 3-D food replicas of menu items at each place, before we ordered our lunches. China Table’s menu is an Asian hybrid of Chinese and Japanese food which winds up looking almost Continued from page 1 American. For example, hamburger is served, but it comes as a curry. Another favorite is boba, large, chewy tapioca pearls which sink to the bottom of a drink that you sip through a wide straw. This poses a challenge, as I slurp up plenty of air while targeting boba. Result?: Burp. Excuse me. The apricot boba is really good. Santouka serves ramen bowls. One orders various toppings and a choice of three sizes and three kinds of broth: salt, soy, or miso. There are also combinations, which include some sides of vegetables and a hard-boiled egg. Misasa’s food looks most like the Japanese food one finds in familiar restaurants. There are various rice bowls, with choices of topping such as tempura, fish, pork cutlets, egg. And they have W I NTER 2009 bento box lunches with tempura, teriyaki, miso soup, curries, fish. Our group didn’t coordinate well, and we discovered that two of us ordered the same dish at Sanuki Sandou—shrimp and vegetable tempura with noodles. Both of us agreed we might have preferred the larger, rather than the tiny, shrimp -- or a different topping altogether for our noodles. One dish had soba (thin, buckwheat) noodles, the other udon (thick, chewy), and the broth was different for each type of noodle. Overall, I enjoyed my dish, especially the broth and the udon, but the O N T HE shrimp-y taste took getting used to. We shared one apricot boba and an order of good pot sticker dumplings (about $7 for ten) from China’s Table. All of the restaurants have photos and/or plasticized samples of the food. The samples just fascinate me. How do they do that? They look good enough to eat and provide a visual preview of the choices available. It makes it easier—but still not easy—to figure out what to order. For many of us, the fare is exotic: don’t expect perfect appreciation the first time around. This is a place to come back to, and judging by the crowd, many people do. If anyone out there is a Japanese food gourmet and can guide me through ordering another meal, let’s talk. The food court is more than an adventure; there’s great food waiting to be tasted! Mar Vista V I E W ; www.mvna.net Mitsuwa Marketplace 3760 Centinela Avenue (310) 398-2113 ~ Roseann Herman p. 12 Le Chic Dentist A brand new dental office, Le Chic Dentist, has opened just recently in Mar Vista. Located in the space vacated by Gloria’s Cake Supplies, our neighborhood has the pleasure of welcoming two young dentists, Doctors Pouria Sadri and Maryam Hadian. The husband and wife team are both graduates of USC School of Dentistry. They provide full dental services from teeth cleaning, x-rays and fillings, to B OULEVARD every type of cosmetic dentistry. Each of their four dental chairs has state-of-the-art dental equipment, including a screen to watch the procedure if desired. Doctors Sadri and Hadian accept most dental plans and are very warm and welcoming; Pouria is a most gentle and caring dentist. If you stop by and just say “Hello”, let Pouria know you read about him in the Mar Vista View. Maryam has just delivered their first child, a baby girl, and will not be in the office for a while. Le Chic Dentist is located at 3755 Sawtelle Boulevard, just north of Venice Boulevard, 310398-5400. ~ Susan Black-Feinstein VanRose Collections ORIGINAL ONE - OF - A - KIND KIND JEWELRY SPECIALIZING IN SEMI-PRECIOUS STONES AND SWAROVSKY CRYSTAL ON STERLING SILVER Vanessa Rosemund, designer 310-508-5970 Email inquiries to [email protected] Visit me on the web at www.vanrosecollection.com Two New Restaurants This holiday season brought the opening of two eagerly-awaited new dining establishments into our [email protected] greater community. The Wood Café is strategically located at the intersection of Inglewood and Washington Boulevards, two heavily-transited corridors. Catering to a fast food crowd they offer organic coffee and other light-meals including sandwiches, french toast and omelettes. On Venice Boulevard across from Mountain View Avenue, The Curious Palate provides gourmet sandwiches and baked entrées for informal lunch and dinner table-service, take-out and catering. The Wood Café 12000 W. Washington Boulevard 310.915.9663 6 am - 10 pm daily W I NTER 2009 The Curious Palate 12034 Venice Boulevard 310.437.0144 10 am - 8 pm Tu-Su Mar Vista V I E W ; www.mvna.net p. 13 MV Farmers’ Market: A N ICHE F OR Q UICHE learned to eat well from her farm and cook at her side. Always it was a dream to run his own restaurant. Claims that this dreamcome-true resemble the occasional nightmare instead are belied by twinkling eyes as he recounts his story. Laurent looks nothing if not happy now. At the “ripe” age of 24 he left a journalism career in France “for love” in America, stayed “despite all” and dedicates all his efforts to his darling threeyear-old daughter, Celeste. Laurent makes every effort to use local and organic produce and eggs supplied by colleagues at the Farmers’ Market. The bread he sells there is baked by a friend; the pastries are his own. Between C REATING Laurent is a self-described “farm boy”, his restaurant, Farmer’s raised by his grandmother in the Normandy Markets and off-site bakery, Laurent employs region of France from the age of two, and at least 15 people. He has come a long way loving food “from day one”. He since those early days of a single table and cooler! You can enjoy a morning MAR VISTA COMMUNITY COUNCIL omelette or quiche with salad, or a Board Meetings fresh pastry or muffin from his booth Second Tuesday on the west side of the Market each of every month Sunday. For a more extensive menu, Mar Vista Rec Center visit his eponymously named restau11430 Woodbine rant, Café Laurent on Overland near Feb. 10 at 7 PM Veteran’s Park in Culver City. Mar. 10 at 7 PM For twelve years Farmer’s Markets have been a staple of Laurent Triqueneaux’s life. He started with just a couple coolers and no market umbrella, cheerfully dispensing savory and sweet quiche up and down the coast between Torrance and Santa Monica. Over the years he has scaled up both his offerings and venues. Nowadays in addition to selling at four Farmer’s Markets per week, he also owns and manages a sit-down café in Culver City. Soon he will expand this popular restaurant to include a branch location in Mar Vista. With so much on his plate, it is our good fortune that since he resides in Mar Vista he feels a special commitment to enhance our Farmers’ Market every Sunday with his flavorful wares. These days he offers omelettes, fresh pastries and bread -- but still the same cheery “Helooo” rings out to passersby, willing and eager to greet you in three languages. (Says he: “This is Mar Vista, you’ve got to speak Spanish”). ••• Visit us weekly at the Mar Vista Farmers’ Market EVERY SUNDAY 9 AM – 2 PM Corner of Venice & Grand View MVNA is represented by MVCC Zone 4 Director Stephen Boskin, [email protected]. Sign up to receive email announcements and a monthly community calendar at WWW.MARVISTA.ORG W I NTER 2009 Café Laurent 7:30a -2:30p Tu-Su 4243 Overland Ave 5:30p-9p Tu-Th 310.558.8622 5:30p-9:30p Fr-Su Mar Vista Farmers’ Market; 8:30 am - 2 pm on Grand View Boulevard south of Venice; free parking in the post office lot. www.marvistafarmersmarket.org Mar Vista V I E W ; www.mvna.net p. 14 Community Groups: W HERE DO YOU FIT IN ? MVNA believes in promoting community by helping to organize neighborhood clubs. We have organized several groups that are currently up-and-running, while others are seeking members. The groups offer a great chance to meet neighbors and join in a fun activity, all within walking distance. If you’re intrigued, please fill out the form below and return it with your dues form on the reverse side of this page - or contact me: [email protected]. Gardening Group: Meets monthly to discuss gardening, work on each other’s gardens, take field trips. Ethnic Dining: The current group, which meets bimonthly to share a potluck ethnic dinner, is at capacity. So we’d like to start a second cooking group (not necessarily ethnic). Walkers: We have two groups that meet regularly for morning/evening walks and would like to start more. Specify when you’d like to walk: French Group: Meets once a month for conversational French. Political Forum: Meets monthly to discuss a hot politic topic. Mah-Jongg: There are currently two groups and we have a Mah Jongg expert in the neighborhood who’d be happy to get new groups started. C OMMUNI T Y Book Club: Meets monthly. Bridge Night Poker Night Quilting Sewing Circle Babysitting Coop/Parents Group Scuba Expeditions Photography Expeditions Bar Hopping Restaurant Hopping Article Writing (newsletter or website) Movie Night Woodworking Senior Activities Wine Tasting Other ideas: Name: Email: W I NTER 2009 Mar Vista V I E W ; www.mvna.net p. 15 www.mvna.net [email protected] P RESIDENT : VICE-PRESIDENT: Dan Jackson (391-1426) Bryan Gordon (390-2064) TREASURER: Susan Black-Feinstein (391-5391) SECRETARY: Roseann Herman (636-0126) B OA R D M E M B E R S : Steve Boskin John Houck Cary Gordon Rob Kadota Renée Marcus Michael Millman Victor Paddock NEWSLETTER: Sara Roos (390-2529) Contemplating MVNA: W HY W E “D UES ” I T ? One of MVNA’s founders, Bryan Gordon, reflects that: “... Almost 9 years later, I am so proud and amazed at how our association has evolved - not just as an advocacy group for the community, but also as a vehicle to bring neighbors closer together for fun, safety and community beautification. Even cooler is how our newsletter and website have created a feedback mechanism for us to hear from our members and for us to let neighbors know what's happening in the 'hood, information they would never find in the LA Times. What's really impressive is that through the collective will and energy of our board and members of our association, we have one of the largest associations in the West LA area: 1200+ homes, with over 30% of residences signed up as paying members. We are a cohesive, stable, energetic, productive and well-respected organization and we've done so much to make this neck of the woods feel like an idyllic place to live. I feel lucky to live here and to be a part of this vibrant community.” In 2009 the MVNA supported these neighborhood events and organizations nominally: • Association-wide block party (rentals, food, beverages, t-shirts., etc) • Mar Vista Landkeepers’ Preservation • Neighborhood Youth Association • Newsletter (printed for quarterly distribution to 1200 residences and businesses) • Police Unity Tour (honoring our former Senior Lead Officer Craig White) • St. Bede's Church (community meeting space) P l e a s e Jo i n U s ! Complete this form and mail it* along with your annual dues of $20 to: MVNA Treasurer 11615 Francis Place Los Angeles, CA 90066 NAME ADDRESS HOME TELEPHONE EMAIL ADDRESS * Or you can paypal us through our website: www.mvna.net