Riviera Homeowners Association

Driving PCH will be a little more pleasant, and homeowners living along PCH will be a lot happier, now that the long awaited landscaping is underway.  City crews, having completed the new fencing and safety improvements, have been spending the summer laying in irrigation pipes and now planting hundreds of podocarpus trees on this stretch of highway across from South High school.  With the help of the RHA, nearby residents have worked with the city to resolve this long-standing eyesore, which will improve homeowners’ health and home values along the PCH access road.  We look forward to the project being completed very soon.  At some point in the future, the irrigation system will be retrofitted for reclaimed water.

Early June: Installation of a water meter and preparation for a new irrigation line.

Early July: Podocarpus trees to block the noise and dust coming off PCH

 We value your support

As the current 2016-17 year comes to a close, we thank all our neighbors who’ve given generously to the RHA in support of our efforts to keep you informed, and represented, here in our treasured corner of Torrance.  Our membership page (click here) should reflect your current status, and if you are behind in your voluntary annual dues contribution, you may update that there.

Another way to contribute is to consider placing an ad in our Riviera Reporter newsletter, which will next be issued before September.  If you have a business, or a service, that you would like to promote, an ad is a superb way to reach all residences within the Hollywood Riviera.  To place an ad, please contact us by email at president@hollywoodriviera.org

Marker project on hold

The committee working on a  marker to mark the entry to the Hollywood Riviera are still working with the City on a “break away” style sign design being requested.   They are exploring alternative styles acceptable to the City and will keep the RHA posted. Thank you for your patience! We hope to be able to post good news and a “go ahead” decision soon.

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Hello again!
Last week’s RHA General Meeting was full of interesting and valuable information.  The city of Torrance provided two excellent speakers on matters of concern to many Hollywood Riviera residents: coyote threats and the new view ordinance. Concern over these issues was evident from the high attendance, as well as the questions thrown at the invited guests.

Lt Jennifer Uyeda, accompanied by Christina Szczypkowski of the Torrance PD Community Affairs Division, gave a detailed exposition of the steps the city has taken, guided by the city council and citizen input, to address the persistent coyote problem.  While coyotes are not brand new to the city, a growing population and adaptation to urban settings has created many problems for residents, who have lost pets and had frightening confrontations with the canny canids.  Lt Uyeda laid out the steps the city has taken, in conjunction with other southern California government bodies to best understand and control the coyote problem, and especially inform residents what they can do to avoid attracting and dealing with the wily wildlife.  As communities across the US have learned, coyotes are not going away.

Torrance PD Lt Uyeda and Services Officer Szczypkowski review city efforts to combat coyote confrontations

Resources on how to coexist with coyotes, including instructions on reporting, viewing maps of coyote sightings, and most importantly – what to do when in the presence of coyotes – were made available at the meeting, and can be found online here.

The RHA encourages all residents to study and share this material with their families and neighbors.  If you don’t know what “coyote hazing” means, you should find out!

Coyote concerns by Riviera residents were expressed during a Q&A

View Equity Ordinance explained

Our other speaker that evening was Ana Fernandez, Planning Associate for the Torrance Community Development Department. Having just been passed by the City Council, the “View Equity” Ordinance seeks to balance the interests of tree and vegetation owners with those who have valuable views and seek to protect those views.

Ms Fernandez details the working of the new View Equity Ordinance and answers some tough questions from residents
Seated at left: Linda Cessna, Community Development Department

Congratulations and thanks to all those who made passage of this ordinance possible, it has been a long-standing goal of the RHA to make this a reality.

For all the information about the ordinance, please visit the city’s website for it here.  There is the 12-page ordinance, a 2-page summary, and additional resources.

The RHA would like your help

Got a little time?

There are a number of ways, large and small, to assist your neighbors with keeping up with developments.  Volunteers are welcome to email the RHA with your availability and interests.  We’ll be sure to get back to you ASAP!

Got a little money?

If you’ve not yet surrendered your voluntary (!) dues for the 2016-17 membership year, please consult our membership page for all the easy ways to keep yourself in good standing.  We thank you for your support!

Rains bless the Riviera

See our Landscape page for another way we keep busy
(and encourage Riviera residents to make their
yards the best they can be!)
Those above are just the monthly awards given this year.

Latest Riviera Reporter

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Hopefully, you received your April Riviera Reporter in the mail by now, with information on the new Tree and View Ordinance.  Our regular April General meeting will be held on Wednesday the 26th starting at 7:00PM.  We welcome our guest speaker Linda Cessna, from the Torrance Community Development Department, who will present an overview of the recently adopted Tree and View Ordinance, with guidance on how to file a view claim.   

We also plan to provide a forum for the latest information and recommendations on coyote abatement from Lt Jennifer Uyeda of the Torrance PD.

For more information, visit our website by clicking here.

Join your neighbors at Richardson Middle School for what will be an interesting evening.

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As many of you already know, the City Council and Mayor voted on Feb. 28, to approve the revised draft  of the Torrance Tree and View Ordinance!

The ordinance has most of the features that we were hoping to get: it is based on the Rolling Hills model,  it does not require the people involved to attend planning commission or city council hearings, it includes a visit to the viewseeker’s home by a city representative who will decide if there is a view obstruction, it is a fairly simple process, it is reasonably priced.

The ordinance will go into effect soon, and we will keep you updated as the work is completed.  Our general meeting on April 26, to which you are invited, will feature assistant Director of the Community Development Department Linda Cessna, who will present an overview of the ordinance in more depth, and provide an opportunity to have your questions answered.

Riviera residents with Mayor Furey and council members Weideman and Herring celebrating one fine view and the new view ordinance from the Speros home

Thank you to everyone who wrote letters to the mayor and council, your attendance at community, RHA, and city council meetings and for your support over the last five (!) years.

Keep an eye on your email for the April edition of the Riviera Reporter, with more info on the view ordinance, and other issues of interest to Riviera residents.   Thanks to your voluntary dues, we are able to sustain the meetings, the newsletter, and all the behind the scenes work that goes on.

Forgot your 2016-17 dues?  Here’s how to pay !

The Hollywood Riviera Sportsmen’s Club holds this year’s Easter Egg hunt Saturday April 15th at 10:00am at El Retiro Park.

Click the bunny for details

The weekend after Easter means Relay for Life at South High School – hope you sign up this year.  There are 53 teams participating, and many people come on their own.  For more information on this years Relay, and our favorite team, click here.

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Tomorrow’s Torrance City Council meeting (February 28 7:00PM) features another vote on the Tree and View ordinance, which recently was reviewed by the Planning Commission.  We think this will be the final approval.

The Planning Commission agreed with three suggestions that residents and Riviera Homeowners board members made to the draft ordinance:

1.)  Having a staff member come to the homes of the view seeker and the tree owner to make a decision about view obstruction is a very powerful and important element of this ordinance.  This is listed in the ordinances as “Advisory Opinion”. The Planning Commission would like to see “Advisory Opinion” by staff to  be mandatory, or at least recommended with the possibility to “opt out.”  We agree.  City staff currently has Advisory Opinion  as optional.

The Advisory Opinion from a staff member is very important, because if neighbors cannot agree and they ultimately go to court, then the Advisory Opinion is admissible as expert opinion in a court of law, and the court will agree with the city’s opinion.   If there is no Advisory Opinion, then the neighbors may go through mediation and arbitration sessions (which are very expensive) but if they cannot reach an agreement, the only path left is a court case.  Without an Advisory Opinion in a court case, the outcome depends wholly on the presentations of both sides and their attorneys–the result is up for grabs.

The view equity claim with the Advisory Opinion would cost $640.  The view equity claim without the Advisory Opinion would be $85 – the city’s cost to send a notice to your neighbors, BUT the view seeker would have to pay for mediation and arbitration fees. ( See 92.41.100 Advisory Opinion in the ordinance)

2.)  The Planning Commission considered the clause in the Rolling Hills Estates model that says that view seekers may petition to restore views from TWO locations of their home, not just ONE location. We agree that a view seeker should be able to propose two vantage points. (See definition of “View” in the ordinance)

3.)  Planning Commission and staff seemed willing to consider that a view can be from a bedroom or bedroom balcony (which is not in the RHE ordinance).

So the ordinance we get may or may not contain these items.

If having the city adopt this ordinance is important to you and your view, your enjoyment of your home, and your property value, please come on down one last time and voice your support for a tree and view ordinance that will do the job!

The Torrance City Council agenda and staff reports for the February 28, 2017 meeting are available (see Item 10A) at:
http://torrance.granicus.com/GeneratedAgendaViewer.php?view_id=8&event_id=3949

In addition, there will be a Workshop Regarding Torrance Refinery at the same City Council meeting (Item 6B) to discuss recent operational failures and the use of Modified Hydrogen Fluoride (MHF) at the refinery.  The Torrance Refinery has been the source of much concern in the Riviera as in other parts of Torrance and nearby municipalities.

February General Meeting out of this world

Featured speaker Jim Montgomery offered a detailed and super exciting talk about his experiences working at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory on the Curiosity rover way up there on Mars, covering the build, launch, and landing of the rover, and his efforts in guiding it through ancient water channels, sand dunes, and mountain slopes.  It was thrilling for all of us in the audience to be transported (virtually, of course) to another planet for an hour and to be able to ask our questions about the mission, and about the future 2020 launch of Jim’s (sorry, NASA’s) next Mars rover.

Jim Montgomery of JPL transports Riviera residents to another planet

To learn more about these exciting explorations, Jim provided these links:

• http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/
• http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mars2020/

The meeting also offered a chance to learn the latest ‘developments” regarding Legado and Centercal — both are in Redondo Beach but have significant impacts in the Riviera as well.

RHA Scholarship applications due soon!

As in past years, the RHA is pleased to present scholarships to deserving high school seniors thanks to the membership dues collected from Riviera residents.  Please make sure your senior (or someone you know) doesn’t pass up this opportunity. Due date is March 13.  For details, click here.

Have you seen the signs?

To advertise our meetings, the RHA posts signs in visible spots around the Hollywood Riviera.  Recently some have gone missing.  If you know where any might be hiding, send an email to president@hollywoodriviera.org    No questions asked, we’ll come pick them up.

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