Plummer Street Project

05/11/2023

State Senator Caroline Menjivar will be meeting constituents this SATURDAY at Millie's corner of Vanowen and Balboa at 9:30am. She is a huge advocate for getting more green space in our community. She needs to hear about the Plummer Street Project.

State Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo is meeting constituents the same day at Northridge Park 11am-1pm. Ms. Schiavo has also expressed interest in hearing about the Plummer Street Project. https://a40.asmdc.org/event/20230513-pastries-park-pilar

This is our chance to educate State Senator Menjivar and Assemblywoman Menjivar about our plans to restore the Plummer Street House, our newest Historical Cultural Monument and surround it with a park-like setting for everyone to enjoy.

04/22/2023

Congrats to the Winter 22’-23’ graduating class of the Photovoltaic program at East LA Skills Center! This group dedicated 16 weeks to learning hands on skill building, performed intensive math studies, and are now ready to enter the workforce equipped to join the booming U.S. solar industry. We can’t wait to support these graduates in finding their calling within this field! 🎉🎉

04/16/2023

https://changethelausd.medium.com/the-little-house-on-plummer-street-6db8a3d38b77

Two appeals to the LA City Planning unanimous decision for the school have been filed. One by neighbors and one by CREED LA, a non-profit organization promoting union work for construction workers in LA. creedLA.com

By fast-tracking a charter school project, the city is ignoring a chance to celebrate its history and preserve some badly needed green space

02/20/2023

The City of Los Angeles declared 15526 Plummer Street an Historic Cultural Monument (HCM) on Wednesday January 25, 2023. I'd like to thank everyone who worked tirelessly writing letters, signing petitions, standing in the hot August sun with signs, to bring this important part of San Fernando Valley history to the attention of the city. WE DID IT!

But unfortunately, the HCM does not prevent Brightstar Valor Academy from building a new elementary school on the properties and denying the community the opportunity to have a new park and museum on the site.

This Thursday February 23rd will be the second City Planning hearing about the school's plans. Please take a moment and write an email (even if you have already, send another!) to the hearing officer Esther Ahn [email protected]. There are many reasons why building another elementary school in North Hills at this location is a BAD IDEA!

I will be post some of the letters anonymously that have already been written.

Please attend the meeting and make a public comment this THURSDAY FEBRUARY 23 8:30AM Agenda Item #7 ONLINE VIA ZOOM AT:
https://planning-lacity-org.zoom.us/j/88204826155
MEETING ID: 882 0482 6155
PASSCODE 872423.

Text from the Hearing Agenda Item #7:
PROPOSED PROJECT:A public charter elementary school for grades TK to Fourth with 28 classrooms within a new one- and two- story building, a multi-purpose room, and an existing house which will be incorporated as administrative and support space. The Project proposes a maximum enrollment of 552 students and will provide 49parking spaces.
REQUESTED ACTIONS:
1. Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines, Section 15074(b), after consideration of the whole of the administrativerecord, including the Mitigated Negative Declaration, No. ENV-2022-5866-MND, and all comments received, with the imposition of mitigation measures, there is no substantial evidence that the Projectwill have a significant effect on the environment;
2. Pursuant to Section 12.24 U.24 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code (LAMC), a Conditional Use to permit a public charter elementary school in the RA-1 Zone; and
3. Pursuant to LAMC Section 16.05, a Site Plan Review for a change of use which results in a netincrease of 1,000 or more average daily trips as determined by and using the trip generation factorspromulgated by the Department of Transportation.Applicant: Elijah Sugay, Bright Star Schools
PUBLIC HEARING REQUIRED
Representative: Silvia Saucedo, Saucedo Group
Staff: Esther Ahn, City Planner
[email protected] (213) 978-1486

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01/24/2023

LOS ANGELES CITY COUNCIL MEETING
Wednesday, January 25, 2023 - 10:00 AM
AGENDA ITEM #6

Tomorrow will be the last and final hearing for the Historic Cultural Monument at 15526 Plummer Street. Since there is no opposition to the designation, it should pass without issue.

Attend the meeting to witness this moment! The designation of LA's newest Historic-Cultural Monument in North Hills, CA.

The City Council will take public comment from members of the public in the Council chamber and also by teleconference. Members of the public who wish to offer public comment to the Council via teleconference should call 1 669 254 5252 and use Meeting ID No. 160 535 8466 and then press #. Press # again when prompted for participant ID. Once admitted into the meeting, press *9 to request to speak.

01/10/2023

The Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM) nomination for 15526 Plummer Street, is scheduled to be heard before the Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee of City Council on Tuesday, January 17, 2023 at 2:00pm. The agenda has not yet been posted, but will soon be available online here: https://www.lacity.org/government/follow-meetings/council-committee-meetings. In the meantime, here are the details for accessing the meeting:

Members of the public who would like to offer public comment on the items listed on the agenda should call 1 669 254 5252 and use Meeting ID No. 161 644 6631 and then press #. Press # again when prompted for participant ID. Once admitted into the meeting, press *9 to request to speak.

12/30/2022

Esther Ahn,

Thank you for accepting these additional comments about the Brightstar plan for an elementary school at 15526/15544 PLUMMER STREET. I am the applicant for the Historic Cultural Monument application for the historic house at 15526 Plummer Street.

Here are my comments and questions about the initial LA City Planning hearing which took place on Zoom December 20, 2022 at 1pm.

From the beginning of the hearing, the Hearing Officer Esther Ahn and Brightstar representatives were talking in the present tense as if the plans have already been approved. Example: “We are building…We are providing…The school meets all development parameters. The drop-off and pick-up is entered off of Plummer St…There is a constant flow of traffic off of Plummer St. onto the site…”

The charter school was able to extend their presentation beyond their allotted time. The North Hills Preservation Consortium had asked to be able to also make a PPT presentation, but were declined. We were able to make 2-minute comments and were cut-off, if we went over. Then, the charter school was allowed unlimited time to rebut our arguments, but we were not allowed additional rebuttal time.

Hrag Hamalian showed a chart documenting their outreach to the community. I, and many others, can attest that their outreach was weak. Hrag Hamalian said he reached out to the community “time and time again”. That is not true. I was speaking to Brightstar’s marketing director John Bwarie 2 hours before a meeting that took place in the front yard of my neighbor’s house and Mr. Bwarie didn’t mention the meeting to me when we were speaking. I wasn’t invited, nor were any other residents around me. We suggested that Brightstar make a presentation to our grass-root organization North Hills Preservation Consortium and they never did. They said they preferred meeting with small groups and going door-to-door which in my opinion, was a ‘divide and conquer’ strategy.

In the CEQA it states, “No substantial evidence that the project will have a significant effect on the environment” and in the same paragraph states that the estimate is additional +1,000 car trips per day. That seems incompatible. How can +1000 additional car trips not have a significant effect on the environment?

It was stated that there was a RA-1 zone change? What is RE9-1? I have never heard that there was a zoning change. When did this happen?

Brightstar said their students are “100% eligible for CS universities.”… - ‘eligible’ what does that mean? All students from all schools are ‘eligible’ to attend CS universities.

Brightstar has no need to move their school from the Panorama City Baptist church because they just renewed their lease.

The Brightstar architect stated that the school buildings will blend in with the surrounding homes. This has got to be a joke?!! The property is surrounded by single-family, single-story homes. The school will have two-story buildings and they do not in any way, look similar to the custom single level ranch-style homes surrounding the properties.

The City Planning Hearing to vote on Brightstar is scheduled for February 23, 2023. Brightstar submitted their initial plans to the city on August 18, 2022. They may have the green light in just 6 months. In contrast, the North Hills Preservation Consortium submitted our Historic Cultural Monument (HCM) nomination on January 22, 2022, 11 months ago and we still do not have the final designation, nor do we have a date for the LACC final hearing. We believe that Brightstar would prefer not to have the HCM and we demand that the final Brightstar hearing not take place until the HCM final hearing with City Council has taken place.

Sincerely, Debora Masterson

12/30/2022

Dear Councilwoman Rodriguez,

I have attached the link to the Univision broadcast and the translation done by a friend of mine. As you can see in the email string below, I asked the reporter for an English translation of the broadcast and she responded they do not have a ‘system’ to translate it. Why couldn’t Univision provide me with an English translation? At all Neighborhood Council meetings, English speakers are required to provide translation into Spanish. When I produced a documentary for PBS, I was required to provide translation captions in various languages, why isn’t Univision required to provide English translations? Or maybe they are, but she decided to brush me off?

Today, I finally found a friend who could translate the reporter’s newscast and discovered that although I provided the reporter Claudia Carrera with accurate information, proof consisting of email documentation, to use in the broadcast, Ms. Carrera decided to ignore that information and instead, stated incorrectly that Valor started their plans before we did. That is absolutely false. As you know, I had a meeting with the owner in August 2021. We first learned of Valor’s plans in January 2022 from the Office of Historic Resources as we were preparing the Historic Cultural Monument (HCM) application (the newscast states escrow began in June 2022 but because it is a private transaction, we don’t know).

So, my questions are: Is Univision required to provide English translations and if not, why not? Secondly, how do I rebut this erroneous information?

Finally, I would like to ask you Councilwoman, you gave a statement to Univision that you are in favor of the HCM but you need to review the entire Valor plan and community input before making a statement. When will you be making a statement? We don’t have much time. At the City Planning Hearing on December 20, the hearing officer stated the second and final hearing to vote on Brightstar’s plans is scheduled for 2-23-23. Brightstar submitted their initial plans to the city on August 18, 2022. They may have the green light in just 6 months. In contrast, the North Hills Preservation Consortium submitted our HCM nomination on January 22, 2022, 11 months ago and we still do not have the final designation, nor do we have a date for the LACC final hearing. We believe that Brightstar would prefer not to have the HCM.

The time is now to make a stand, Councilwoman Rodriguez. I can’t believe that anyone who studies this issue could think that building another elementary school at this location in North Hills is a good idea. It is so wrong for so many reasons, reasons that you are already aware of or should be by reading the copious amount of community feedback that the community has so diligently and tirelessly submitted opposing the construction of this new public charter elementary school.

We are at a crossroads and the time is now. Will we make the right decision for our community and deny Brightstar their CUP? Will the city move forward in purchasing the property, and with the help of the community, restore the historic house, and create open space for all the children and residents, not just a chosen few Valor elementary school students?

Thank you for your support, Debora

Valor Academy es una escuela gratuita que no tiene una ubicación permanente, por lo cual la portavoz Maribel Flores ha buscado un espacio más grande para sus alumnos. En ese sentido, en junio encontró una vivienda ubicada en North Hills, Valle de San Fernando, y llegó a un acuerdo con el dueño....

12/30/2022

Another great letter sent to City Council CD7 Monica Rodriguez and City Planning hearing officer Esther Ahn:
To the council members:

I am a resident of North Hills, only a few doors down from the proposed elementary school on Plummer St. The prospect of having another elementary school in North Hills as opposed to a much needed park space is grim. I strongly urge you to vote against this construction. The residents of North Hills would do far better with a park space than another elementary school.

While I nor my neighbors have been consulted about the proposed school, we have been in talks with one of our community leaders, Deborah about a proposed park space. The residents of North Hills should have a say in this matter- Plummer street is a large and busy street- to be made busier by the inclusion of a new school.

Construction will also surely prove to be a bilious affair for those of us in the nearby community- and for what benefit? To procure a multi-storied, ill-fitting, unnecessary, elementary school, sandwiched between single story residences, whose tarmac-laden pathways will serve as excellent heat amplifiers in our already fiery north valley.

Please consider those who will be affected by this decision- do not make any choice lightly. It is rare to have an opportunity to provide a community a public space that can be enjoyed by all- a park is the right choice for 15526 Plummer St.

Make the right choice.