Lawndale Tribune AND lAwNDAle News The Weekly Newspaper of Lawndale Herald Publications - Inglewood, Hawthorne, Lawndale, El Segundo, Torrance & Manhattan Beach Community Newspapers Since 1911 - Circulation 30,000 - Readership 60,000 (310) 322-1830 - August 21, 2014 Airport Cadets Assist At-Risk LA Youth with School Supplies Inside This Issue Business Briefs...................7 Classifieds............................3 Certified & Licensed Professionals.......................5 Food.......................................8 Hawthorne Happenings....3 Legals............................4, 6-7 Police Reports.....................3 Sports................................ 4-5 Weekend Forecast Friday Partly Cloudy 77˚/64˚ Saturday Partly Cloudy 77˚/64˚ Sunday Partly Cloudy 77˚/64˚ Los Angeles Airport Police Youth Cadets participated in the third annual Backpack School Supply Donation Drive hosted by the Youth Esteem Corporation (YEC). Together, the Youth Cadets, the Airport Police, and YEC provided school supplies for over 200 at-risk children in the Los Angeles area. Photo: Edwin Palacios. Council Considers Front Yard Artificial Grass By Nancy Peters For more than one year the subject of landlords and homeowners taking care of the landscaping in their front yards has been a topic discussed in oral communications. The Lawndale City Council decided to consider alternatives for the front yard blight that is seen by anyone driving around the city, examining the possibility of allowing artificial grass to be installed in front yard setbacks. The artificial grass has been allowed in backyards and side yards, but no ordinance exists that will allow the same type of synthetic turf in the front of a building. The Planning Commission was initially tasked with exploring this alternative and the Planning Commissioners approved a recommended ordinance with extremely strict standards to be followed by homeowners who may choose to install artificial turf. Only 75 percent of the yard could be artificial grass and 25 percent must include live plants and bushes. The recommendation was for nontoxic materials of high quality and a typical 20 feet by 25 feet front yard could cost between $19 and $23 per square foot, or as much as $6,000 for all the preparation work, the linings, placements of the grass, and must be the type recommended in the ordinance. It was pointed out that the recommended material is not AstroTurf. A public hearing was held to allow citizens to weigh in on the topic of artificial grass in front yard setbacks. With seven citizens speaking at the podium, only two expressed an interest in having the ordinance pass and one citizen objected to any ordinance dictating what homeowners can have in their front yard. One citizen even wore a sandwich-board style cardboard that read “NO NO NO ARTIFICIAL GRASS.” Others commented that Lawndale would have to change its name. When all was heard, including the fact that there are many alternatives in different types of live sod that requires less watering and maintenance and is eco-friendly, the City Council made their comments, none in support of the recommendation from the Planning Commission. And with lack of a motion to approve a first reading of a new ordinance, the topic of artificial grass allowed in front yard setbacks was closed. An additional public hearing and motion for a relocation plan for any residents who will be affected by the Larch Avenue Park Expansion Project resulted in the approval of a relocation package. In other business, the evaluation of the Planning Commission performing the duties of the Traffic Commission for the last ten months was reviewed and the trial period scheduled to end on November 11, 2014, will be exercised as written into the original agreement. The Traffic Committee will therefore revert to a separate committee and not be the Planning Commission members, but the Planning Department, Municipal Services Department, Public Works Department Directors, a representative from the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department and a meeting schedule will be announced shortly for this body. The Consent Calendar approved an agreement with the SPCALA for animal shelter services and rescue animals found throughout the city of Lawndale. It was suggested that the SPCALA be approached to bring an animal to at least one City Council meeting each month that can be offered up for adoption by citizens. The policies of painted blue curbs for onstreet parking for persons with disabilities were updated and compliance with all regulations in the Americans with Disabilities Act was established and blue curb requests must be submitted and examined by the City Engineer who will seek approval by all residents on both sides of the street to assure that a blue curb will not be objected to by residents. The attendance at the League of California Cities Annual Conference was approved at the cost of $2,050 for three members of the City Council, and as decided at the August 4 City Council meeting, Council member Daniel Reid will represent the city of Lawndale as the delegate September 3-5 and Mayor Robert Pullen-Miles and Mayor Pro-Tem Jim Osborne will be alternates. Any voting at the conference will be at the discretion of Mr. Reid as the Lawndale delegate, including the only resolution announced so far to be considered, which will examine the feasibility of cultivation of growing marijuana throughout the state for medicinal purposes only. Applications are being accepted in the City Clerk’s Office for seven positions on the Youth Services Action Committee. Applicants must be Lawndale residents, in grades 6 through 12, from the ages of 12 through 18. In addition, the appointees will serve for a one-year period. Also, applications are still being taken in the City Clerk’s Office for members to join the Beautification Committee. The Lawndale Blues and Jazz Festival will take place on the Civic Plaza on Saturday, September 13 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Lawndale Library will continue the Latin Music Festival for two more Saturdays on the Library lawn at 147th Street and Burin Avenue from 12 Noon to 2 p.m. The Clean-Up Week for Lawndale is September 13 to September 21 and Saturday, September 20 volunteers will meet at Der Wienerschnitzel on Hawthorne Boulevard at 10 a.m. for the street cleanup. Parents are encouraged to bring their children and educate them on the effects of keeping their city clean. The next meeting of the City Council will be held on Tuesday, September 2 at 6:30 p.m. rather than Monday, September 1, which is the observance of Labor Day, a federal holiday when no city business is conducted. •
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