The Historic Garvanza Coalition was formed to file an appeal against the SKYA project at Avenue 64 & Garvanza.
Settlement Reached with Skya
Historic Garvanza Coalition (HGC), Aguilar and SKYA Highland Park Partners II (Skya) have reached a settlement regarding SKYA’s planned mixed use development at East Garvanza Avenue and North Avenue 64. HGC and Aguilar have agreed to withdraw their appeal related to this project. Subsequently, an additional moderate income unit will be provided for 55 years, landscape and design changes to the corner building at Avenue 64 and Garvanza will be made, all subject to City approval. The parties have also agreed on additional safeguards for residents and children during construction and to a proposed haul route. Since the project was first presented, the original proposed 151 bedrooms has been reduced to 100 bedrooms and the design has been modified to include a larger courtyard and slightly smaller footprint with more articulation so that the building looks like several smaller buildings rather than one large building. The developer has agreed to support efforts and work with the community and the City to minimize the impact of the additional traffic congestion that will be created by this building.
Fundraiser & Raffle to support Historic Garvanza Coalition at the OffBeat Friday, October 14th 5:30 to 9:30 pm – 6316 York Blvd
LIVE MUSIC
Bands:
6:30 pm – La Tuya ,
7:15 pm Magnet Hearts,
8 pm Star Party,
8:45 pm Bloody Brains
Join us – Connect with neighbors. Fundraiser will help us pay our attorney on SKYA & the Wilson Estate.
Learn more about the amazing bands that will play at our fundraiser: https://latuya.bandcamp.com/album/la-tuya & https://razorcake.org/eastside-punks-a-screening-and-conversation-the-brat-thee-undertakes-stains/
Historic Garvanza Coalition files CEQA Appeal
On July 29, 2022, the Historic Garvanza Coalition filed a California Environmental Quality Act Appeal (CEQA) appeal of the SKYA project.
Update on SKYA Appeal:
At the April 28th hearing, the City Planning Commission denied in part our TOC appeal. They approved a change in the design from the original. We have now filed a CEQA Appeal.
We believe they are not following their own guidelines. It appears that the Commission worried that if they granted our appeal it would limit the number of TOC projects that would be approved. They are using the DASH bus as a qualifier for the the project when only Major Bus Routes are to be used. Additionally, the DASH runs parallel to the other route they used contrary to their guidelines. Finally, the time interval for the DASH is 20 minutes. It has never been less than 20 minutes. The time interval for a qualifying bus line is supposed to be 15 minutes or less. At the time of the approval it did not qualify.
The new design is shown above.
Thank you to everyone who has supported our appeal, attending numerous hearings, writing letters, donating to pay our attorney. It has made a difference.
Read about the developer: https://laist.com/news/highland-park-apartment-tenants-fac
Contact us at historicgarvanza.com@gmail.com
Appeal Hearing, was Thursday, April 28, 2022 @ 8:30 a.m.
To view the agenda go to: https://planning.lacity.org/dcpapi/meetings/document/71849
To view the documents: https://planning.lacity.org/plndoc/Staff_Reports/2022/04-19-2022/DIR_2020_3912__2_.pdf
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The OFFBEAT Fundraiser on December 11th was a great success and a lot of fun. Thank you Offbeat!
Apparently, community activism in NELA is not new.
Tenants Face Mass Evictions https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-marmion-royal-dispute-20160829-snap-story.html
About SKYA Highland Park LLC.
SKYA introduced itself to Highland Park in 2016 by raising the rent on the mostly Latino residents at the Marmion Royale. Fifty seven mostly Latino residents were ultimately evicted.
The Appeal
The Historic Garvanza Coalition along with five abutting residents have filed a Transit Oriented Communities (TOC) Appeal. They appealed the TOC approval, the Director of Plannings approval of the Certificate of Compatibility and other issues. You can find our Appeal Here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MrSAoETyFlVGvEukftbnB0WRmW2h8Zr2/view?usp=sharing
Read about the appeal: https://boulevardsentinel.com/city-approves-reviled-development-in-garvanza-local-coalition-appeals-the-decision/
About co-living
SKYA was proposing to build a three story, 33 unit co-living apartment building at the Gateway to Garvanza. Twenty-six of the units would be five bedrooms with five and four baths. A five bedroom unit would not have had enough room for all of the units occupants to share a meal together.
The Highland Park Garvanza HPOZ Board found the SKYA project not in compliance with the Highland Park Garvanza Historic Preservation Overlay Zone (HPOZ) Guidelines. The HPOZ board are experts on the guidelines: Jonathon Silberman the Chair of the Highland Park Garvanza HPOZ found: “as proposed is substantially not in compliance with the Preservation Plan guidelines….The project as proposed does not appear to really have any relation to other examples of historic structures, contributing structures, in the area.” After minimal changes to the design, the City of Los Angeles, Director of Plannings designee approved the project.
You can find the Director of Planning Letter of Determination Here: https://planning.lacity.org/pdiscaseinfo/document/MjI0NjU0/532fbe86-06a9-44b1-8001-06cd07316c90/esubmit
You can find our Appeal Here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MrSAoETyFlVGvEukftbnB0WRmW2h8Zr2/view?usp=sharing
A transcript of the Highland Park Garvanza HPOZ decision from February 2021 is provided here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WuCvEfyAVh_Z9jYYEdG80E0VqtapLhAI/view?usp=sharing
A copy of the updated report submitted by SKYA is provided here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xOqNtWg2U9AspUBNyVfi_nl_gho4C_5t/view?usp=sharing
Offbeat fundraiser was a great success. Thank you Offbeat, the bands Carnage Asada, Backbiter, & Santa Sabbath. Thank you to all of the donors and participants who made this event successful.
We’ve got T-Shirts!
T-Shirts will be available at the OffBeat Fundraiser. We have X-Large, Large and Medium crew neck t-shirts and XL V-Necks.
Thank You, Rosty Peruvian for the fundraiser. Thank you to all the community members who came in and ordered out to support our appeal! The food was wonderful.
We had a blast at the NELA Holiday Parade and Highland Park Tree Lighting/ Toy Giveaway Holiday Event. The Highland Park Heritage Trust (HPHT) had a parade entry and additional table. For neighborhood children, we had arts and crafts, gave away cookies, ornaments, coloring sheets & juguetes.
Update: Raffle tickets are not available on GOFUNDME afterall.
Join US
FUNDRAISER AT THE OFFBEAT
Saturday, December 11th, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. – Live Bands Raffle Donations can be made on GoFundMe Page, $2 a ticket or day of event. Raffle Items: Native Plants, Ceramic Dolls, Books on Los Angeles, Garvanza, Gift Cards plus more. Significance Statement “Excellent example of Googie commercial architecture in Garvanza, featuring the unusual use…
Garvanza and Highland Park News
The Highland Park News -Herald & Journal for many years served our community. Did you know, York Blvd used to be called New York Street? Follow this link to read an anniversary edition care of UCR Center for Bibliographic Studies and Research. https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=HPNHJ19750921.2.4&e=——-en–20–1–txt-txIN——–1 Arroyo Seco Parkway The Arroyo Seco Parkway was California’s first freeway. It…
Historic Garvanza Coalition 