Thursday December 7, the City of Culver City will be holding its third and final Hillside Development Standards Study community meeting regarding the Culver Crest neighborhood. The gathering will take place in the Vets Memorial Building at 4117 Overland Ave. at 7 p.m. Martin Feinberg, Culver City Realtor, reminds readers that all members of the public are invited to attend the workshop.
The purpose of the meeting is to provide an opportunity for Culver City residents, especially those living in the Culver City Real Estate area of Lower and Upper Culver Crest Hillside, to give input regarding hillside development. It will be one of many meetings that have been held over the course of the year, trying to determine how to ensure that there will be no future landslides in the Culver Crest area.
Last December, City staff from the Community Development and Public Works Department met with approximately 15 Culver Crest hillside neighbors to discuss their concerns regarding new home construction in the area. Residents were especially worried about how new construction would impact hillside stability, and requested that additional development and building standards for hillside construction be adopted by the city.
In January and February of this year, the Culver City City Council discussed the issue and directed staff to prepare a moratorium on new development in the Culver Crest area. They also requested that a study be initiated to identify ways to regulate development and construction that would ensure public safety.
On March 20, 2017, the Council adopted Ordinance 2017-005, establishing a 45-day moratorium on the issuance of new building permits for development and construction on Culver Crest Hillside neighborhoods, which was extended in April for an additional ten months and 15 days. The moratorium is currently set to expire in March of 2018.
Besides hosting community meetings and public hearings, the City’s project team—headed up by the Current Planning Division and John Kaliski Architects—is reviewing all existing plans and policies regarding hillside development and also surveying existing conditions. Their goal is to develop alternative options, standards, and guidelines for future development in Culver City.
Martin Feinberg, Realtor, has seen what hill slides can do to neighborhoods and is interested in hearing the City project team’s plans for moving forward. Anyone else who would like information or has questions should attend the meeting on December 7 or contact Michael Allen, Contract Planning Manager, at (310) 253-5727 or Michael.Allen@culvercity.org.