After attending a public hearing on the environmental impact of CASP on November 16, 2011, the Youth Organizers (YO) (with help from SEACA staff and local experts) came up with comments and concerns regarding the potential environmental, socioeconomic, and political impacts of the project.
The following is what was submitted to Claire Bowin at the Department of City Planning and Pauline Lewicki at the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA/LA) on December 15, 2011:
Southeast Asian Community Alliance (SEACA)
970 N. Broadway Suite 209
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 628-8667, tam@seaca-la.org
December 15, 2010
Claire Bowin
Department of City Planning
200 N. Spring Street, Room 721
Los Angeles, CA 90012
claire.bowin@lacity.org
Pauline Lewicki
Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA/LA)
1200 West 7th Street, Suite 200
Los Angeles, CA 90017
plewicki@cra.lacity.org
Comments on Cornfields Arroyo Seco Specific Plan
- Scoping and Public Participation
- Provide more outreach to the community surrounding CASP. The Southeast Asian Community Alliance (SEACA) went door-to-door to residents near the Lincoln Heights/Cypress Metro stop and found that residents did not get the notice for the Public Scoping Meeting held on November 16, 2010. The means in which the flyers were distributed may not be the most effective. Door-to-door knocking, tabling at events, and announcement at local schools may increase public participation.
- Need more public input in scoping process. Should increase participation at meetings by at least 50 more community members.
- All materials need to be translated to simplified Chinese, Spanish, and Vietnamese. Materials need to be written at a 4th grade reading level.
- All meetings should provide interpretation in all languages listed above (translation for Chinese should be in Cantonese).
- Report of how public comments during Scoping Meetings gets addressed in EIR.
- Transparency of the process leading up to the draft EIR that is scheduled to come out in May 2010.
- At least one SEACA staff and 1-2 youth to be part of the Community Advisory Committee
- Request for public meeting to be held every 5-6 weeks to update residents and community members on progress of EIR
- Air Quality
- Health Impact Assessment to see how pollution / dust / noise / traffic from this project will affect residents
- Hot spot analysis of emissions given off by the I-5, US101 and 110 for new residents in CASP area
- More trees planted in congested areas, especially near sites of construction
- More designated no smoking areas
- Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- Add mitigation measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
- Hazards and Hazardous Materials
- List of potentially hazardous materials and their health effects
- No affordable housing, parks, or schools constructed on top of areas known to have hazardous materials
- Land Use/Planning
- Socio-economic report of existing community and how plan will affect area median income (AMI), employment, affordability of commercial and residential areas
- Visual surveillance should not involve videos or cameras
- FAR should be kept to 3.0 or less
- New residential development at least 1000 ft from freeways
- Recreational centers need to serve local, existing communities’ needs. Can be identified by a survey of current residents and recreation center personnel.
- New supermarkets and shops need serve existing residents and be affordable for 65% of AMI within 500 ft of project area
- Community friendly, affordable businesses to the existing community
- Barrier between freeways and housing/parks for both noise and air pollution
- Noise
- Construction: working hours of 9AM – 5PM only
- Operation: working hours of 9AM – 5PM only
- Population / Housing
- Socio-economic report to define what is “affordable” for the community and to compare current population to expected future population
- Affordable housing should target people in the 40-60% AMI
- More than 50% affordable housing for the already existing community within the ½ mile radius of project area
- Priority of new affordable housing to the existing community
- Affordable home ownership (if condominiums are built for sale) and home ownership education programs
- Need permission from residents/tenants for transfer
- No art studio lofts replacing affordable housing
- Installation of solar panels for new buildings
- Public Services
- Report that compares the existing services with the planned project
- Recreation
- Currently not enough accessible parks, need more active recreation parks and recreational centers near residential areas with adequate staffing to ensure park safety
- To be built 1000 ft or beyond from freeways
- Parks less than 5 acres, big parks are rarely used by residents
- Recreational centers should include green space, playgrounds for children, tables for elderly, and a variety of sports facilities such as tennis, basketball, soccer, volleyball, baseball, fitness classes, etc.
- More community gardens for residents to grow fruits / vegetables, targeting low-income renters and SNAP eligible residents
- More trash cans and recycle bins. If trash can contains ashtray, place high and away from accessibility of children
- Additional comments
- Requesting economic analysis report for financial feasibility and impact for existing businesses
- Protect existing job base and prioritize new jobs that provide living wages; provide adequate labor standards enforcement to ensure jobs meet legal health & safety requirements and do not engage in wage theft.
- Provide airport style benefits (which includes living wage, health care, dental, and vision)
- Employment of 60% from local area defined as Lincoln Heights, Boyle Heights, Highland Park, Cypress Park, Solano Canyon, and Chinatown
- Jobs training, job placement assistance, and vocational ESL classes to benefit area for jobs that provide economic mobility opportunities and living wages.
- Mitigate and compensate adverse effects on businesses
