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How do you fight "City Hall"? You have more power than you think... First, you must be committed to taking action. You must be well organized and willing to dedicate your time to the fight. If you are, then let’s get started! 1) Contact all of your neighbors by newsletter. Provide a description of the application. The City only notifies property owners within 500 feet of the site. You must take it upon yourself to notify the rest of your neighbors. Set up a meeting at you home prior to any land use meeting. Prepare a petition that includes the following information: The case number, the address and application description, the reason you object to its approval. Here is where you homework comes in! Some issues are obvious such as traffic impact, loss of privacy, loss of equine keeping rights, noise-generated lighting, density, and parking impacts. Look out for the issues that may not be obvious to you like changes in the slope of the land that may cause flooding on your property…that the approval of that application will set a precedence for local land owners to request the same thing, and if one is approved you cannot stop others in the future! 2) Gather signatures immediately at your meeting. Also have copies of the petition to pass out and ask each attendee to gather 10 of their own. This will save the organizer time to focus on other issues. 3) Get the neighbors to attend the meetings! Carpool…offer childcare…but GO! Go in record numbers. 4) Don't focus your anger at the land use boards! The neighborhood councils are elected but not paid individuals who serve with the intention of serving their community. It is your job to do two things at the meeting. Listen to the applicant and see if there are any changes in their request. Sometimes new issues will be discussed that you may not have focused on. Speak up at the appropriate time set for public comments on that item number. And give copies of the petition to the board. (You can still gather more as you go.) 5) Some land use applications will be heard more than once, or by more than one board. The Tarzana Neighborhood Council has a subcommittee who may review the project and give a recommendation to the land use committee. In turn, the land use committee will review it and make a recommendation to the Board of Governors. The Board of Governors will review it and make a recommendation to the Councilman and the City Planning Department. Depending on the type of application, either a zoning deputy or South Valley Area Commission will hear the case. At each hearing public comments are a matter of record and you can influence the decision. Speak up! Be brief. Be prepared. Try to address issues that have not been considered. Bring facts, pictures, people and copies of petitions. You will be sent a determination if you sign up for one, clarifying the conditions that were set for its approval or for its denial. Sometimes the decision is made at the hearing. 6) If it was approved, you still have options! You can appeal the decision and another hearing will be set. The last appeal will be heard by the City Council. Or you can become a watch dog to make sure that the conditions set forth in the determination are followed or the applicant could be penalized and even lose the right to be there. Always document the facts and occurrences, times and dates, and take pictures. Get your complaints to the City Councilman, the Neighborhood Council, and the Planning Dept. 7) Many land use cases take over a year to come to a conclusion. Particularly if they have opposition to it. You also have other options to consider. Establishing a website to disseminate information to your neighbors, provide dates of hearings, etc. Become involved in your Neighborhood Council. Start from the beginning to let you Councilman know how you feel about the proposed project. Most Councilmen are concerned about losing votes over land use issues, especially if you did your homework and have those petitions! Well, I hope you’re inspired to protect your quality of life and your property values! I would wish you good luck, but remember, it’s all about being prepared and informed. |
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T.R.A.P.P.D. | 18640 Calvert Street, Tarzana CA 91335 | 818.757.1330 Site design by EarthDaughter Arts |
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