A message to the membership of the
Holmby Westwood Property Owners Association
July, 25, 2016
There has been a lot of discussion, much anger, and many meetings about the proposed Historic Preservation Overlay Zone (HPOZ) in the past few months. I believe it is incumbent upon me, as president of the association, to explain how we got to where we are and the role of the Board of Directors up to this point. A bit of history might be welcome, based upon what I know, and may contribute to setting the record straight.
Approximately ten years ago, the Board of Directors began to assess the historic nature of our community because of reports of homes being torn down, CC&Rs being ignored, and the possibility of incompatible development and loss of our physically planned and developed Janss community.
A History and Architecture Committee was formed within the Board (non Board members were also on the Committee) to study our history and physical community and to educate neighbors about its findings. The Committee studied how other LA neighborhoods addressed and solved issues of change, including incompatible development. The Committee met with residents in communities with adopted HPOZs (30 such communities exist), studied HPOZ Plans in communities that were similar to ours, met with city officials, the LA Conservancy, the Office of Historic Resources and brought the information back to the Board. This discussion went on for several years, at which point, the Board recommended that we, as a community, learn about the possible formation of a HPOZ for Holmby Westwood.
Detailed information was amassed, distributed by snail mail, email, door-to-door deliveries, and through community meetings where city staff from the Office of Historic Resources spoke to our community. There were meetings at Westwood United Methodist Church, St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, and Belmont Village – meetings within our neighborhood and well publicized. We had focus groups to better inform people. We had speakers who addressed such a plan, who answered questions, and who showed pictures of compatible development. The Committee was focused on making certain that all information was available to everyone and that informational meetings took place for all.
AFTER this information was made available to all residents, as our Board insisted and the city required, Holmby Westwood POA took a vote to determine whether or not the community was supportive of pursuing such a plan. We took not only one vote, but we took a second vote (both between 2012 and 2014) to reach those who did not vote the first time, to be certain we had support to pursue a HPOZ ( via snail mail, email, hand delivery, person to person, and petition at our July 4th picnic). With all of the information that had been made available, the community voted to go forward with such a plan. 57% of Holmby Westwood residents voted of whom 84% responded “YES.” 16% responded “NO.” That information was presented to our councilman and his staff.
At that time, the Planning Department was short on staff, but eventually proposed a budget item for funding several staffers to work on HPOZ Plans for communities wishing to consider such. Holmby Westwood was one of six communities who were ready to proceed with the City of LA requirements. We had worked for several years, done our homework, informed our community, and were ready to join the 30 neighborhoods in LA who have HPOZs.
A survey entitled “Survey LA” was being conducted by Historic Resources Group (HRG), to access the historic significance of every home in Westwood. The company photographed every home visible from the street and catagorized each house into “contributing,” “non-contributing,” or “altered contributing.” Such designation is based on the Sec’y of Interior Standards, not the city’s, not the homeowners’, nor the “opinions” of others. The HOA contributed $45,000 towards the HRG Survey to complete a more enhanced assessment.
Once the survey was assessed, it was determined by the City of LA that, in fact, Holmby Westwood did qualify to become an HPOZ because there were enough significant homes that, in most cases, had been maintained to qualify for such a Plan. An Interim Control Ordinance (ICO) was put in place for two years in March, 2015, by City Council for six communities to write Draft Plans while holding off on remodeling or tearing down any home until such a Plan was in place.
A Working Group was selected BY THE CITY to work on a HPOZ “Draft” Plan. They worked on this plan for 6 months, meeting twice a month for 3 hours per mtg. There were reading assignments and much discussion at each meeting. The group was composed of HW residents who live in one and two story homes, some longer term, some newer term, an architect knowledgeable about preservation, people with children, comprising a mixture of interests representing our community.
The city conducted one informational meeting and another is to be held on July 28th, concluding with a public hearing. A report will be written after that meeting and the Plan will go to the Cultural Heritage Commission, the City Planning Commission, to the City Council’s Planning and Land-Use Committee, and eventually, to City Council.
I believe it is important for you to have this information. We would not have received the votes of 57% interested homeowners (a huge response) with 84% of them supporting unless neighbors had been informed along the way. I sincerely hope that you try to understand that this undertaking proceeded, from the very beginning, with full and total disclosure to the community. Accusations that residents never received anything, never knew about an HPOZ, and that the procedure was not transparent are simply untrue. The Holmby Westwood Property Owners Association could not have been more interested in educating every resident or making transparent every action taken.
We have one of the most wonderful neighborhoods in Los Angeles. I always believed that we were a rational community, listened to many points of view, and worked through some major controversies on difficult issues. What happened that turned neighbors into “us” against “them?” Such adversity serves NO ONE’s best interest.
Supporters and Board members have tried to reach out to the opposition to no avail. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I hope that whoever is leading the “red” team will reach out to the council office, our Board of Directors, or the Working Group to discuss options and solutions. We all need to come together to protect Holmby Westwood, to find a way that that can be accomplished. Shouting out at meetings, screaming into a microphone, and angrily written letters have never solved problems!
Thank you for greater understanding! I look forward to working together to maintain and enhance our community as a wonderful place to live.
Sandy Brown
President, Holmby Westwood Property Owners Association