Riviera Homeowners Association

Landslides and a water main break in the Upper Riviera on Vista Montana (see the images on our Instagram) have closed that street between Mesa St. to Via Corona indefinitely. As a result, residents who live above Vista Montana need to take a long detour to get down the hill. Unfortunately, it appears that it will take quite some time to repair. The City of Torrance in its most recent update said it will take at least six months to recommend permanent stabilization and repair measures before a design phase can begin.

Additionally, above Vista Montana on Paseo de las Tortugas, two houses were red tagged and two others yellow tagged, according to a March 15 story on Fox11 News.

According to the National Weather Service, our area of Southern California has received 188% of normal rainfall for the year to-date. The official rainy season ended in March, but that doesn’t mean the rain will necessarily stop. 

If you live in an area that has landslides, you need to take precautions:

• Find out if the area you want to build or add onto is on bedrock or soil, or a mix.  You can begin your inquiries at the Torrance Public Works Engineering Department (310) 781-6900 for a general report of soil safety.  Building and Safety (310) 618-5910 and Code Enforcement can offer help.
• For more detailed information, you may want to call a private engineering firm which can take core samples and determine the exact makeup of the soil. “Bill” at Palos Verdes Engineering said that if someone is building on a steep hillside, a slope stability report and a core soil sample can determine if you can build, for example, a pool or cantilevered home or patio on your site.  Don’t just look at your neighbor’s home.  “These problems are site specific, so your neighbor’s problem may not be yours.”
• Lastly, do NOT plant ice plant on a hillside. Ice plant has very short roots and during a storm, the plant retains water, gets heavier, and may loosen and slide down the slope. Bill said “You want plants that are drought-resistant with deep and spreading roots to grab the surrounding soil. Armstrong Nursery recommended myoporum, lantana, rosemary and star jasmine.  If you prefer native plants, The Tree of Life Native Plant Nursery in San Juan Capistrano suggests California buckwheat, yarrow, California asters and irises, which they have. Good luck with your gardening – maybe your neighbors will even help out!

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The City of Torrance is working on a comprehensive, long-term master plan for the Torrance Civic Center (that’s where City Hall, the main library, Cultural Arts Center, etc. are located). The RHA encourages resident participation in the related survey and upcoming webinar.

Torrance Civic Center Master Plan & Economic Feasibility Study – Community Survey

Your input is vital to this process, and the city invites you to participate in the Community Survey and upcoming HOA webinar. The Community Survey is a key component of the city’s robust community engagement strategy, designed to capture your valuable insights on the vision, priorities, and goals that should shape the Civic Center Master Plan.

To Access the Survey: To share your input online, please click here. This link will direct you to the dedicated Civic Center Master Plan landing page and survey.

• Physical copies of the survey are available at any City library branch or the Permit Center.

Survey Deadline: The survey period extends until February 29, 2024. If submitting in-person, kindly deliver your responses to any Library branch or the Permit Center by the close of business on February 29^th or ensure they are postmarked no later than February 29th to the following address to the attention of the City Manager’s Office: 3031 Torrance Blvd., Torrance, CA 90503.

TO JOIN THE HOMEOWNERS WEBINAR WITH CITY AND GRUEN ASSOCIATES THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2024 – 6:00PM – VIRTUAL VIA ZOOM:  Please RSVP using the following link:
 https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_5K60UryFRCCq5vgtHYlJUw

If you have any questions or require further assistance, contact the City Manager’s Office at (310) 618-5880 or send an email to LandManagement@TorranceCA.gov.

Your participation is invaluable as we work together with the city to shape the future of our Civic Center.

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What could be easier?!

Please join with friends and neighbors for a delicious fundraiser on Wed. Oct. 18 all day (11:00am – 9:30pm) at the Riviera Mexican Grill, 1615 South PCH, Redondo Beach. The RHA will get 15% of the cost of the food, if you show the flyer below. 

The food is reliably great, the margaritas are legendary, and we know the company you’ll find there will be wonderful and fun, so support your RHA with una buena comida!

It’s Touch and Go on Touch and Goes – Weigh in Tuesday!

The Torrance City Council is once again deciding what to do about Torrance Airport “touch and go” training flights at the next City Council Meeting – Tuesday Oct 17, beginning at 6:30pm.

Council will vote on whether to accept the reconsideration of the vote on touch and goes, which would allow councilmember Asam Sheikh to change his vote to “no touch and goes.” This would make a majority vote opposed to touch and go training flights.

This important discussion is scheduled to be the last item on the City Council agenda (Item 9-G)! So you may come in late (sometime after 8:00pm) to the meeting and still hear the discussion live and have a chance to speak for one minute.

They don’t want us to show up and tell them that we are opposed to touch and goes – and that by placing this item at the end of the meeting; by having multiple meetings but not taking action; by making residents wait 3 years from the time the noise monitors were discontinued – they are trying to discourage the 145,000 residents of Torrance from demanding that they end all touch and goes.

You may also watch the meeting live on the internet, on Spectrum Channel 3 and on Frontier Channel 31.

Send your concerns to:
CityCouncil@TorranceCA.gov
AChaparyan@TorranceCA.gov

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Two meetings, both important to Riviera, Seaside, and other South Bay residents will happen in the next two weeks:

Touch and Go No Mo’?

Tuesday Sept 12  The Torrance City Council will reconsider the last vote on touch and go training at Torrance Airport.  The last time the City Council voted on the issue, it failed.   One of the council members who voted in favor of touch and goes has changed his opinion!  We would like to see them finally decide this issue on Sept. 12, but the City wants to wait. City Council meetings start at 7:00.

Write to CityCouncil@TorranceCA.gov to send an email to all council members and the mayor, to say the council must be allowed to reconsider the vote on touch and goes.  The noise and flights are worse, not better, since they ratified the Letter of Agreement.

General Meeting September 19 – open to all residents

Tuesday Sept 19  – The Riviera Homeowners and the Seaside Neighborhood Associations will have a joint meeting at the Riviera United Methodist Church, 375 Palos Verdes Blvd!  There will be two presentations:

• “Home Insurance Woes—what you should know”  There will be two Farmer’s Insurance agents and an insurance broker (who can compare and discuss all agencies and policies). They will suggest how to get and stay insured. 
• “Get off the Gas Stove—easy alternatives” The next presentation features a live demonstration of induction cooking by Doug MacMillan. He will cook (very quickly!) using electricity and induction cookware. Doug has some induction pans to loan out to interested residents!                

The General meeting will start at 7:00. Refreshments served.

Are you in the Hollywood Riviera and don’t like ads?

If you’d like to get rid of the ads seen on this website, and would like to help the RHA while promoting your own business or non-profit, please write to us at webmaster@hollywoodriviera.org

We will arrange your one-year ad placement and we’ll deep-six those pesky other guys’ ads. You also get a free one-year RHA membership.
(your ad subject to board approval)

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National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make our neighborhoods safer, more caring places to live. 

The Torrance Police Department and our neighboring Seaside Neighborhood Association invite all Torrance District 5 residents to National Night Out, a community building event held by police departments across the nation.

Millions of neighbors take part in National Night Out across thousands of communities from all fifty states, U.S. territories and military bases worldwide on the first Tuesday in August. Enjoy the full moon and getting together with neighbors!

City Council Listens to Constituents – Initiates Progress on Aircraft Issues at Torrance Airport

On Tuesday, July 25, after hearing testimony during council and reading 450 pages of letters and supplemental materials, the Torrance City Council agreed to resident demands for the airport:

• They will implement landing fees for transient flights and for flight schools
• They will study the noise monitor situation and add noise monitors, as many as are needed
• Leaded fuel will be phased out in favor of unleaded. The goal is to have this within 1 year.
• There are 2 too many flight schools according to the Airport Manual, so the latest 2 schools will not have their permit or business license renewed. No new schools will be added in the future without council approval.
• Councilman Griffiths asked that the Torrance Municipal Code 51,2,3 e) be enforced, which means NO PLANES MAY TURN INTO THE RIVIERA AREA.
• Training flights will be restricted to 10 AM – 6PM Mon.-Fri. , NO TRAINING ON THE WEEKENDS OR HOLIDAYS. The frequency of training flights will be 4 flights every 2 hours maximum.
• The control tower and FAA will be asked to work with the city of Torrance when giving direction to pilots

This is a great result and thanks to all of you who wrote letters, put up lawn signs, and attended the July 25 meeting.   We all owe Richard Root a special thanks for working on this issue for over a decade, and to the Coalition for Torrance Airport Reform (COTAR) board: Chuck Costello, Dan Will and Richard Root.  It was an honor to work with this group, and this success is due  to their  efforts .  Thank you, COTAR for pushing this over the finish line!!!

For more background on the issue, see COTAR’s website and our Torrance Airport Issues page.

Be in Tune with Torrance

There are a number of regular newsletters available to Torrance residents for learning what’s going on directly from city leadership. See what’s available here.

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