Dear Editor,
It seems like yesterday that the concerns regarding the overdevelopment plans for Fox Hills were expressed to the City Council, but in reality it has been almost 2 years ago since this issue was brought to the City Council’s attention by concerned residents, including a petition with over 300 signees. This threat of overdevelopment has evolved into reality as, THUS FAR; five (5) developers are in varying stages of the permitting process to develop almost 3000 housing units on the south side of Slauson. These proposals, and one has already been approved, are adjacent to where there are 2600 units, making Fox Hills the densest residential area in Culver City. Why this evolution happened is no surprise, since the city designated this area for 100units/acre, which the city knew would bring developers flocking to it, as they have.
Despite concerns raised by residents of Fox Hills, the City Council has shown their lack of interest to even discuss the issue in any of the City Council meetings. The 4 members of City Council, who have been on the dais for the past several years, have only expressed their beliefs in equitable distribution of the 3341 units the city must build by 2029 or have spoken of their concern about it. Sadly, it has only been lip service. The truth is that they had the power to amend the Housing Element, but I guess there was no political will to address it at all. They do however prioritize other items that are placed on their meeting agendas such as should kiosks be installed around the city. It is hard to compare the degree of impact kiosks will have with the overdevelopment planned for Fox Hills. It is pretty obvious which is more important. Also, they certainly lockstep with the Planning Commission’s decisions, a commission that has shown their total lack of fairness in their decision making when it comes to Fox Hills, to say the least. At the Planning Commission’s last meeting in April they expressed their strong support for maximizing the density in Fox Hills without any hesitation shown at all.
The city likes to give the appearance of legitimacy to their assault on Fox Hills by hiring a consultant firm to develop what they are calling a Specific Plan for Fox Hills. Although some of what this plan includes sounds fine, such as making the area more walkable with more connectivity strategies, the consultant’s presentation of the plan made no mention of the almost 3000 housing units proposed thus far that will bring at least an additional few thousand vehicles to the area. It all sounded so matter of fact and normal when the consultant was presenting this plan to the Planning Commission, who ate it up. This is a commission where one of the members expressed concern about mature trees disappearing in Fox Hills, while this same commission voted in favor of the 5700 Hannum Avenue project, where the plan is to rip out the mature trees. The presentation was pure marketing. Instead of preventing problems created by high density, the city planners are creating the density problem and then try to look responsible by hiring a consultant firm to address it. If they are trying to reassure the Fox Hills community by thinking that this Plan will do the trick, it will not. Many who have been following this issue see through what you are doing.
What occurred to me after hearing the recording of this presentation is that the city likes to give the appearance of being transparent and fair (touting all the feedback they obtained from the community) but they actually talk around the main facts that truly will impact their citizens. Not always, for sure, but when it comes to Fox Hills, a definite yes; especially true when the General Plan process was underway.
During that time there was never direct communication with the Fox Hills community about the impact that would result with the 100 units/acre designation for the south side of Slauson. Of course maybe one could figure that out if they plowed through the dense Housing Element report and found the color coded map indicating the 100 units/acre area south of Slauson. Just for the record, many of us assumed there would be additional housing in Fox Hills, but even the most skeptical among us, never dreamed we would be carrying most of the burden of the 3341 units the city needs to build since we are already housing dense. Some of these skeptics were actually shocked to learn this news. Those of us who have historically been less skeptical felt betrayed, as we have had a long history working with the city. Repeating the theme of appearing transparent reappeared when the actual number of units proposed was absent when the consultant presented the Specific Plan for Fox Hills. So much for being specific; keeping it general is what happened.
In conclusion I will make three more points:
1. Arrogance can be manifested in various ways. One frequently thinks that arrogance looks aggressive and obnoxious. That is not always the case, as with the behavior of the city. It can be very matter of fact and look like they care about its citizens while they calmly proceed with their agenda as if it is just fine.
2. The city is going against its own zoning code, where the purpose of the zoning code is clearly stated: “zoning districts are meant to protect and promote the public health, safety and general welfare of its residents. Specifically, the #2 criteria states: Preserve and protect the integrity and character of the city’s residential neighborhoods. Clearly this plan does the opposite, where the 6-8 story complexes being proposed in no way resembles the character of the Fox Hills neighborhood.
3. I thought the city was progressive when it came to the environment, but not when it comes to increasing the environmental pollutants that will result if all this development happens in Fox Hills.
The assault on Fox Hills is wrong and trying to make it look right is not going to make it so. An assault is still an assault.
Sincerely,
Judi Sherman, President of the Fox Hills Neighborhood Association