Venice Envisioned – Community looks at Lincoln Blvd.
By Sheila
Bernard
Economic growth based on legal
and fiscal desperation has led to assaults on stable neighborhoods in our city,
as well as serious environmental degradation.
The Venice Community Coalition organized
the Envision Venice event to address this situation. At the event, 146 residents
– business owners, and professionals – met together and in small
groups to articulate their “design values.” This is the first step
in establishing guidelines for developers, so that they can propose projects
that the community can embrace.
These
guidelines will be part of a Community Design Overlay which needs to be created
by the Los Angeles Planning Department to regulate development along Lincoln
Blvd.
Each small group was facilitated
by an architect or other professional. The individuals in the group expressed
the values that they felt should guide development. (These values are not
specifications such as building height; rather, they are general principles,
such as pedestrian friendliness, that should be considered in evaluating whether
a development is beneficial to the life of the community.) The goal was to
establish which values are shared by everyone and which values are
controversial.
We reached agreement on
some matters involving Lincoln Boulevard, while on other matters we continue to
disagree. It is possible that our areas of disagreement will melt away in the
face of greater knowledge. Affordable housing is a good
example.
Some Venetians feel that 15
percent is an appropriate amount of low-income housing to be included in every
development project. Others feel 50 percent would be more appropriate. Still
others feel that the current housing crisis dictates an even higher percentage.
This is an important enough controversy that further study is warranted.
The design values arrived at during
the Envision Venice event, both agreements and disagreements, will be published
this month in a report which will go to the Los Angeles Planning Department,
Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, and Mayor Hahn. Meanwhile, the Venice Community
Coalition and the Land Use and Planning Committee (LUPC) of the Grass Roots
Venice Neighborhood Council will both discuss next steps in securing the
Community Design Overlay for Lincoln.
Members of the community, both those
who attended Envision Venice and those who did not, can participate in future
events which will help the process along. Community members can suggest ways to
achieve consensus in areas of controversy, such as affordable housing. One way
to study the issue might be the
following:
A survey can be conducted of
all businesses along Lincoln Boulevard. Business owners can be asked how many
employees they have; what the wages of these employees are (within broad ranges,
say $5,000 - $10,000, etc.), where the employees live, how they travel to work,
etc. From this survey, we could learn approximately how much housing we would
need for the workforce of Lincoln Boulevard, and how many car trips we could
eliminate from Lincoln by providing this housing. Any low-income housing
percentage arrived at without such a survey is purely speculative, and should
not serve as a basis for policy decisions. On the other hand, a percentage
arrived at through such investigation could create measurable improvement in
traffic conditions over time, which would benefit people of all income
levels.
To be this thorough in our
deliberations, we must not be pressured by the desperation that is evident in
statements such as, “If we don’t agree to this development, we will
get something worse.” No. It is our responsibility, and it is the purpose
of the Envision Venice process, to enact laws which will render that kind of
fearful reaction no longer necessary.
Guided by an ethic of the common good,
we can achieve environmentally beneficial development through deliberation
rather than desperation.
Posted: Mon - December
1, 2003 at 04:13 PM