| Newsflash Diary of a Campaign |
Fighting Home Depot Was Not Free! We still have some debts to cover. Donate to the STA! You can use the PayPal link or mail a check to STA, PO BOX 123, Tujunga, CA. 91043 |
Sunday, February 1, 2009- Goodbye Sunland-Tujunga! This site has served it's purpose in helping to bring a great victory to our little town! The site will remain online as a permanent archive of our 4 year battle and we will be re-arranging it to better serve those wishing to review or study our campaign (we get a lot of visitors from universities). From now on, please visit the STA site for all of your updates. This has been an amazing journey, thanks to all for the memories and for taking part in this exciting chapter in the history of Sunland-Tujunga. -The NHDC Wednesday, January 28, 2009- The STA site has a great dialogue going on about what should be on the former K-Mart property, and how design is such an important element to make this community center special. We also have info on how to get your ideas to the STNC. Check it out and leave your comments at: http://stai.wordpress.com/in-the-neighborhood/ Monday, January 26, 2009- The STA is beginning to compile the record of the four year struggle against Home Depot for our archives and for some other projects we are working on. Please go to the STA site for more info or send us an e-mail with your recollections! We know how good you can all write letters, now share with us your favorite or least favorite memories! Saturday, January 24, 2009- The Foothills Paper has a front page story on last weekend's celebration party HERE. Wednesday, January 21, 2009- The Daily News has an editorial in today's edition about the challenges our community now faces! You can read it HERE. Joseph Mailander comments on the editorial HERE. Monday, January 19, 2009- Here Come The Videos! Update: All Videos & Pictures have been moved to this page. *Plus* Tony Bowling has 199 photos of the party HERE! Sunday, January 18, 2009- BIG PARTY RECAP! Abby has the story HERE! Joseph Mailander has written a very moving story about today's Big Party that you can read HERE. Cindy Cleghorn has her photos up HERE! The Foothills Forum has some photos HERE! We'll have more up later! We'll See You All At The Big Party Sunday, Jan 18, Noon till 3pm McGroarty Arts Center 7570 McGroarty Terrace, Tujunga, CA 91042 Spread The Word! Invite Your Friends & Neighbors! All Are Welcome! Food, Fun, Music & It's Free! Come Early! Councilmember Greuel will only be there from Noon till 12:30pm! (Additional parking at North Valley City Hall. Free Shuttle!) Thursday, January 15, 2009- STA members Joe and Abby had the privilege of speaking to a homeowners group in Thousand Oaks tonight regarding their Home Depot problem. Their case is similar to ours in that they are dealing with Home Depot trying to go into an old K-Mart on their main street and at the gateway to their community. They were very interested in our story, several in attendance mentioned how they had been following it for some time. The funny part was when two Home Depot "spies" tried to slip into the meeting and we immediately recognized them. They looked shocked when they saw that we were there, and soon slipped out before we had an opportunity to introduce them to the audience! Maybe next time! Wednesday, January 14, 2009- Good Times At STNC Meeting! A nice turnout and a visit from Councilmember Wendy Greuel led to a celebratory mood at tonight's STNC meeting! Awards were being passed out left & right for the "Best of Sunland-Tujunga Businesses". The STA was also surprised when we were presented a very nice recognition plaque from the STNC. Wendy spoke about how proud she is of all of us, and recognized the STA and the efforts of the whole community in working together to make our town a better place. The Celebration continues on Sunday with The Big Party at McGroarty Art Center! -Breaking News! Arnie's Cafe has just signed on to provide pasta dishes & steak sandwiches at The Big Party! Tuesday, January 13, 2009- Celebration Updates! -We encourage anyone that may have trouble walking the steep grade to McGroarty Arts Center to park at North Valley City Hall. Also, parking is limited at McGroarty, so consider parking at NVCH. The STNC is providing a shuttle courtesy of AllRight Rentals in Sunland. This shuttle will drive you all the way to McGroarty's upper parking lot and return you to NVCH when you are ready to leave! Thanks to Bill Manning for making this happen! -Councilmember Wendy Greuel will be there at 12 Noon sharp and can only stay for 20-30 minutes. Please come early to show your support! -Besides the STA; the STNC, the S-T Chamber of Commerce, and Commerce Deli have signed on as sponsors! Phil Tabbi and Jim Moore will be doing the BBQ! -We need help setting up on Sunday! Please be at McGroarty at 9:30 am if you can lend a hand. We also need some kitchen help with slicing onions and prepping other food! Contact Regina at hrh.regina@verizon.net if you can help out! Thursday, January 8, 2009- Ok, the dust is settling a bit and we've finally gotten some sleep! Last night's last minute celebration party drew a large and merry crowd to Joselito's. The energy in the room was high, and attendees broke out in applause every time a new guest arrived! The Margaritas were in big demand, and it was great to spend some time with those who have worked so hard for this day. Then today, we had an architect tour the former K-Mart site with the idea that he will create a rendering of what this site could actually be. He has some great ideas already, and if this all works out we will use those renderings as a starting point in our discussions within the community. We will be meeting with another architect tomorrow to get his take on this site and what possibilities he may foresee as well. With community input we then hope to develop a package to shop around. The Land Use Committee of the STNC will play a big role in this endeavor as will you! Come to the Wednesday, January 14th meeting of the STNC for more details. Joe also did an interview for the Crescenta Valley Sun Newspaper today. You can read it HERE. The story also made the front page of the Daily News today! Thanks DN! Yesterday, this website broke it's daily visitor record with an amazing 2745 hits! Finally, we have received so many e-mails that it has now become apparent we will never be able to respond to them all. Just know that your well wishes and "whoo-hooos" are greatly appreciated and of course, we love you too! Thursday, January 8, 2009- The STNC has issued an official statement regarding Home Depot's withdrawal from Sunland-Tujunga. You can read it HERE! Tuesday, January 6, 2009- The Biggest Breaking News Ever! VICTORY! Home Depot pulling out of S-T! We just spoke with a high ranking HD official (at 10:45pm) and he confirmed! We are literally shaking (and celebrating)! More updates tomorrow as they come in! Congratulations Sunland-Tujunga! WOW! Thank You Home Depot! You did the right thing! Joe was on KPCC 89.3 fm, "The Patt Morrison Show" at 1:20pm today. You can listen to the taped podcast HERE! (Real Player required) KFWB News 980 am interviewed Abby and it should be on the air after 3pm. CurbedLA has the story HERE! Al Norman of Sprawl-Busters fame (and our inspiration) has the story HERE! Daily News now has an expanded story up HERE! LA Observed gives us a mention HERE! LA Times covers the story HERE! LA Business Journal HERE! LAist has the story HERE! Ron Kaye has the story HERE and an update HERE! Street-Hassle has an optimistic mention HERE and even more HERE! Mayor Sam has the Breaking News HERE! NBC has the story HERE! Contra Costa Times HERE! MSNBC HERE! Valley of the Doll gives us a nice write-up HERE! Emails & Phone Calls are pouring in! We'll respond to each as soon as possible! Tuesday, January 6, 2009- Even More Breaking News! Home Depot Drops Lawsuit! Home Depot has filed a request for dismissal of it's lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles! After noticing that HD has taken down their website (see post below), we just did some research at the Superior Court site and discovered this document! We have calls out to find out what is going on and will report back when we know more! This is big news! Let's hope for the best! Tuesday, January 6, 2009- Breaking News! Home Depot takes down it's S-T website! The homedepotsunlandtujunga.com site has been taken down and hosting canceled. The host, Omnis Network, tells us that the site was canceled about 11:30 am today by phone call. The reason given was that the site "was no longer needed". We have no idea what this means, but we will update if we find out more. Monday, January 5, 2009- Oh, What A Year It Was... A look back at some of the memorable quotes from 2008. "Everything about this case is unprecedented." - Comment made at STNC meeting after Home Depot and the City Attorney's office announced a Stipulation Order to Stay Litigation. -March, 2008. "I think it sucks that we had to come to this and miss the Laker game." - Local resident commenting on DRP sponsored Sunland-Tujunga Dialogue. -April 26, 2008. "We have an obligation to the stockholders of Home Depot because we have invested $30 million into that property ..." - Jeff Nichols, Home Depot Real Estate Manager, at STNC meeting. -April 29, 2008. (Usually Home Depot claims to have spent $2 million. Jeff let the truth slip out.) "City Planning will decide." - Jeff Nichols, Home Depot Real Estate Manager, responding to a question as to why Home Depot will not do a voluntary EIR. -May 2008. (City Planning issued a determination on Dec 5, ruling against Home Depot. Home Depot promptly resumed their lawsuit against the City.) "It's not on the table whether the community wants the store or not." -Francisco Uribe, Home Depot Representative speaking to Lake View Terrace Improvement Association. -June 2, 2008. "Will Home Depot be searched, too?" - Joe Barrett, Chair, NHDC, after he and Abby Diamond were searched before being allowed to view public documents at the City Attorney's DRP office. -June 30, 2008 "The meeting is for invited participants only. This closed door meeting at this location does not violate any existing laws and it's closed door status will be strictly enforced. The Alliance's (STA) irresponsible behavior in issuing its unauthorized public invitation has forced the Dispute Resolution Program to request police presence at the meeting to insure that this process will proceed under the Dispute Resolution Program's policies and rules." -Barbara Goldfarb, DRP, in an email to the STA. - August 2008. "Yea, they have 15 members, they're all 'antis', we've got enough 'antis', they have no new ideas." -Barbara Goldfarb on why COBRA was not invited to attend DRP closed door meeting. -August 25, 2008 "You're rabble rousing again." - Barbara Goldfarb to Abby Diamond. -August 25, 2008 "You can't stop Home Depot!" - Barbara Goldfarb at the final DRP meeting held downtown. -October 16, 2008 "It is my judgement that the building is unsafe, and I cannot sleep at night knowing this." -Arnold Bookbinder, Structural Engineer, commenting on the work Home Depot has done to the former K-Mart building, November 2008. "This document is meaningless!" -Damon Mamalakis, attorney for Home Depot speaking to Judge Chalfant as he waved around the December 5 written decision from City Planning denying Home Depot's application for Categorical Exemption from CEQA. -December 9, 2008 Sunday, January 4, 2009- Interesting story about the community benefits of shopping local HERE. Monday, December 29, 2008- The Action Alert is working! We spoke with the Senator's office today, and a meeting may be in the works! We are hoping to have the Senator's representative tour the former K-Mart site and/or make a presentation in his office. The Senator may also release a statement next week to further clarify his position. What this means is... If you haven't written a letter yet, please do so this week. We just want to add that this community really knows how to write! We have been very impressed with the quality of the letters the community has written, (It must be because of all the practice we've had!). Don't forget to send us a copy! UPDATE! Here are some of the letters we have received so far. UPDATE! We're Not The Only Ones That Are Impressed By This Latest Round of Letters... Audrey writes,"... your complimentary description of the letters is so correct. I appreciate, and am envious of their talents and abilities to express the facts so clearly and yet are able to challenge the Senator or the City officials as needed. I wish I could thank each and every one of them personally for doing what I can not do effectively. Hopefully the powers-that-be will hear and act responsibly, and will understand that there are scores more who are represented by those writers. Pass on my thanks to the writers." Monday, December 22, 2008- ACTION ALERT! Meet State Senator George Runner! The State Senator for District 17, representing the Sunland-Tujunga area, is George Runner. Senator Runner publishes a weekly online newsletter that is read by many of his constituents, and that's a good thing. The not-so-good thing is that Senator Runner's latest newsletter features an article on Home Depot's attempt to open in our community - with a definite spin in favor of Home Depot. When you read his article, you will see that he is woefully uninformed, and has obviously been "worked" by the Home Depot PR machine. In fact, he links his article directly to their latest PR letter. Senator Runner's position is disturbing; he never bothered to contact anyone in our community, his constituents, for the other side of the story. His position seems to be entirely based on the information that Home Depot has provided him. One would hope that a State Senator would try to get the whole picture before publishing their opinion. This effort by Home Depot to reach out to a State Senator is an all new tactic. Since Home Depot is finding few sympathetic ears in the City of Los Angeles, they are now trying to turn a local issue into a statewide issue. They are trying to go over the heads of the local city government and get the attention of politicians on other levels. In light of this development, we are now issuing an Action Alert. We are asking our supporters to send a letter or call Senator Runner within the next 10 days. You can access his contact info, including his email at http://cssrc.us/web/17/contact_us.aspx. State Senator George Runner Santa Clarita Office 23920 Valencia Blvd., Suite 250 Santa Clarita, CA 91355 Phone: (661) 286-1471 Fax: (661) 286-2543 Be Polite and Respectful (remember, we want to win him over), please let him know the following points: 1. The proposed use of the former K-Mart structure is not simply the reuse of an existing building. It has been extensively remodeled, and the Zoning Administrator and the Los Angeles City Council have determined the construction work qualifies as a Project per our Specific Plan and is subject to CEQA regulations and environmental review. 2. The store proposed by Home Depot is not similar in the least to what the former K-Mart was. This is an attempt to force a much more intensive operation into a residential neighborhood, with an elementary school less than 500 ft away. The proposed Home Depot use is more than "minor construction where there will be negligible or non expansion of use." 3. Home Depot had based their application for CEQA Exemption on the former Kmart use and traffic patterns, yet the site has been empty and unused for over 2 years. CEQA Guidelines state that the lead agency's determination must be based on the existing conditions at the time the application is made. In plain English, this means that the Planning Department cannot allow Home Depot a CEQA exemption from environmental review because the existing condition is a vacant building and a vacant site. 4. The Los Angeles Planning Department has evaluated thousands of pages of information in this case, including varied and opposite opinions from several experts. They have determined that Home Depot's request for categorical exemptions from environmental clearance is not appropriate. Here is a copy of City Planning's determination that you may want to send Senator Runner as well. It is vitally important that we continue to inform those that may not understand the particulars of this case. We are requesting a meeting with Senator Runner after the holidays, so your letters and phone calls will be crucial in helping to open the doors of accessibility! Please contact him as soon as possible! Our Action Alerts have been very effective in the past, let's keep up the good work! Please send us a copy of your letter! Saturday, December 20, 2008- STA Holiday Party is a Gathering of Friends!! We all had a great time catching up, and celebrating another year of keeping Home Depot out of our community! Thank you to all for attending, and to Kris for providing the delicious food! In other news... James O'Sullivan (President of the Miracle Mile Residents Association) has a report up at CityWatchLA that mentions us. Good story, you can read it HERE! Noel Weiss (candidate for City Attorney) also has a story on the same site that gives us a shout out HERE! And Holy Cow! Yet another story appears on CityWatchLA today that brings up our battle against Home Depot! This one is by the editor himself, Ken Draper! You can read it HERE! Thank You CityWatchLA! Tuesday, December 16, 2008- The Foothills Paper is back online and has a front page story on recent Home Depot developments that you can read HERE. Tuesday, December 16, 3008- STA Response to Home Depot's recent letter STA RESPONSE On December 5, 2008 the City of Los Angeles Planning Department rejected Home Depot’s request to be exempted from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in the City’s review of its application for a new store at 8040 Foothill Boulevard. Home Depot responded that the City is wrong and that there will be far-reaching unfavorable effects of that decision. We strongly disagree with both of these conclusions. Back in 2005, Home Depot indicated they would apply for the standard and usual Project Permit Compliance Review with our community’s Specific Plan. When they found that the community was opposed to an unattractive big-box warehouse on this key central location, Home Depot dropped that effort. They then labeled the project as "tenant improvements” that require only a building permit in an effort to avoid scrutiny of the actual impacts of the proposed project. The community continued to oppose this devious backdoor approach and the Los Angeles City Council agreed with us, voting overwhelmingly to uphold the normal process. City Council members wanted our community to have the benefit of a full CEQA-compliant environmental review, including mitigation of all impacts of any new store. Home Depot then sued the City. The lawsuit was placed on hold earlier this year after an agreement was made between the City Attorney and Home Depot. Part of this agreement stipulated that Home Depot would apply for Project Permit Compliance Review. The agreement also gave Home Depot and the City the option of resuming the lawsuit at any point in the process. In the course of this process, Home Depot ignored the Council and continued to try to avoid any responsibility for mitigating the impacts of a large, regional discount building materials outlet - they asked for special treatment in the form of Categorical Exemptions from CEQA. This approach led to Home Depot’s present plight which is not the fault of the City or anyone else, but solely belongs to Home Depot alone. The City was correct and treated Home Depot fairly. CEQA exemptions were created for very minor construction activities and the courts have ruled that these exemptions are to be narrowly applied only to situations where there is clearly no impact. Categorical exemptions can only be granted when there is no potential significant impact on the environment. This is clearly not the case with this project on this site. Five million dollars worth of construction to a 34-year-old building is not minor. A 100,000 square foot regional discount outlet for building materials on a vacant site is not an insignificant project. This eleven acres is the largest commercial site in our community, and is not similar to the hundreds of smaller retail sites and stores strung along the Boulevard. The project is within 500 feet of an elementary school and is adjacent to a Senior Mobile Home Park. These are what is known as “sensitive” existing uses and require more consideration of impacts. Understandable, a permit applicant's views of impacts from its own project are frequently skewed in their favor. We had experienced professional land use, economic and environmental experts review the five technical studies that Home Depot presented. They found many potential adverse significant impacts, from economic impacts on local stores and increased urban decay to on-site and off-site traffic impacts and air pollution. The City’s decision on the inappropriateness of a CEQA exemption for this situation is well supported by the facts in the record. Home Depot implies that the City’s decision has a far-reaching harmful effect of slowing the development review process. On the contrary, the City’s prudent decision will protect neighborhoods and mitigate the impacts of big box discount chain retailers. The fact that Mervyns or Circuit City have closed does not justify a carte blanche for Home Depot. Economic downturns are cyclical, but the unmitigated impacts of this Home Depot on our community would be permanent. The City did not deny Home Depot’s Project Permit Compliance Review application; it merely indicated that the rules would apply in evaluating the store’s impacts. However, Home Depot has now returned to court and is demanding approval of the prior tenant improvement project. At the same time they stated that this “does not preclude” continuing with the Project Permit Compliance Review application more recently filed for the Project. This contradictory approach muddies the water regarding which “project” Home Depot really wants. The City should place the present Project Permit Compliance Review application on hold until either the Home Depot litigation is resolved, or Home Depot dismisses its lawsuit and goes ahead with the current Project Permit Compliance Review application, including the required CEQA environmental review. Here is this text on it's own page. Monday, December 15, 2008- Okay, Okay, we get the message! There are many misleading statements that Home Depot has made in their latest letter. Thanks for your e-mails! We'll be posting our rebuttal to Home Depot's latest press release as soon as it is finished. Thursday, December 11, 2008- Home Depot Responds! This is the response Home Depot has come up with in regards to the reinstatement of their $10 million lawsuit against Los Angeles, and the denial of their application for CEQA exemption. It's tempting to point out the multitude of inaccuracies in this letter, but greatly less time consuming just to say, "Would you like some cheese to go with that whine?" You can read it HERE. Thursday, December 11, 2008- A gathering is being planned to toast the efforts of the community in our 4 year battle against Home Depot. Even though the fight is not yet over, we feel it is time to recognize and celebrate the work of so many, the camaraderie we have built, and, okay... it's really just an excuse to have a party! Hold the date of Dec 20th! Details soon! Wednesday, December 10, 2008- What The Lawsuit Means to S-T The lawsuit that was reinstated yesterday means that Sunland-Tujunga can take a well deserved break from this 4 year battle for awhile. Go enjoy the holidays! Since the matter is now before Superior Court Judge James Chalfant, we don't have to worry about Home Depot's army of lobbyists or their ever-changing PR firms. Superior Court Judges look at the law, not the spin, and we know that the law and the facts have always been on our side. Home Depot now faces an untold amount of attorney fees, and a store that is still not open, or likely ever will be. Home Depot will now have to explain their actions to their shareholders, and if we were shareholders, we wouldn't be pleased. Thank you Sunland-Tujunga for all your incredible support, for joining us in the protest lines, the letter writing, and the journeys to numerous hearings! And thank you for keeping our campaign alive with your generous donations!! We could not have done this without you! More updates as they come in. In the meantime, please pass the eggnog! Also, you can watch today's KABC 7 story HERE! Tuesday, December 9, 2008- BREAKING NEWS! Home Depot Reinstates $10,000,000.00 Lawsuit Against the City of Los Angeles. Case Goes To Trial in Mid-July 2009! At today's Status Conference hearing in Superior Court, Home Depot sought to have the judge order the City to "wrap up the application". They accused the City of violating the Stipulation Order by taking longer than 5 months to process their Project application. The attorney representing the City pointed out that the reason it was taking longer to process their application was because Home Depot had applied for exemption from CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act). On Friday, City Planning issued a determination that denied Home Depot's application for categorical exemptions from environmental assessment. This decision obviously did not sit well with Home Depot, as the attorney for Home Depot waved the letter in the air calling it "meaningless" and stating that Home Depot was "frustrated". The Judge did not grant Home Depot's request to order the City to "wrap up the application" and instead set a date for trial in Mid-July 2009. CurbedLA has the story, and Mayor Sam (you can post your comments). IN OTHER NEWS... WATCH KABC 7 AT 5:30PM TODAY FOR INTERVIEW WITH ABBY & JOE OF STA/NHDC! Monday, December 8, 2008- KABC 7 To Interview NHDC Tuesday Abby & Joe will be speaking about Home Depot's application for CEQA exemption being denied, Home Depot's treatment of the community, what should be developed on the K-Mart site, and anything else we can think of. We'll notify you when we know the broadcast time. Monday, December 8, 2008- Here Comes The Judge Home Depot has an appointment with the Superior Court Judge that is overseeing the Stipulation Order on Tuesday. We are curious as to how the judge will react to these latest developments. We will be in attendance and will report back after the court session. Friday, December 5, 2008- Home Depot's Application for CEQA Exemption DENIED! HD Must Undergo Environmental Assessment! "The Department of City Planning has reviewed your application for environmental clearance and has determined that a categorical exemption is not appropriate."-City Planning Read the determination from City Planning HERE. Huge Victory for Sunland-Tujunga & the STA!!! Ron Kaye Has The Story HERE! Joseph Mailander weighs in HERE! UPDATE: Abby has a post about all this over at the STA Blog. Friday, December 5, 2008- Another Week Of Silence From City Planning! That's ok, we're patient. Here is today's campaign flashback, an interview Joe did with Bill Handel on KFI back on 8/6/07. Bill Handel has the #1 morning drive radio show in Los Angeles. The interview starts about a minute into this clip. Enjoy! Joe on KFI 8/6/07 Thursday, December 4, 2008 A Trip Down Memory Lane As we come to the end of another exciting year in our long battle against the Big Orange Box, we thought it would be fun and informative to recall some of the highlights of this campaign. From now, to the end of the December, we invite you to join us as we look back on 4 years of fighting the good fight! So grab your popcorn, curl up on the couch, and enjoy! Today's offering: The Top Ten Shady Tactics That Home Depot Has Used Against Our Community Wednesday, December 3, 2008- BONC Comes To Sunland-Tujunga At last night's BONC (Board of Neighborhood Commissioners) meeting, the STA spoke out in support of The Neighborhood Council Appeal Rights resolution. We strongly believe that a NC should have the right to appeal City Planning land use decisions that affect their particular community. The decision on this resolution still has a ways to go before it is settled, but we wanted to go on record before the board that will be studying this proposal. To read the complete resolution put forth by the LANCC (Los Angeles Neighborhood Councils Coalition), go HERE. Monday, December 1, 2008- We're back and have resumed City Planning Watch 2008! In Other News- On Tuesday, Dec 2, BONC (Board of Neighborhood Commissioners) will be holding a meeting at North Valley City Hall at 6:00 pm. BONC is the governing board that oversees all of the Neighborhood Councils. This meeting presents an opportunity for us to share our concerns about Home Depot and why this proposed store has no place in Sunland-Tujunga. This is also an excellent opportunity to express our gratitude to not only the STNC, but also to the many other NCs across the City that have supported our efforts in fighting Home Depot. You may recall that we spent a great deal of time and effort presenting our case to various NCs, and the support that we received from them has helped us immensely in bringing our story to the forefront. When the NCs can band together over an issue like this, the City, the Politicians, the Press, and the Public pays attention! Please join us on Tuesday! Wednesday, November 26, 2008- The Bookies Were Wrong! No decision was made today (or at least it wasn't released). We'll be back on Monday, enjoy the long weekend! Tuesday, November 25, 2008- Still No Determination From The City! The local bookies have the odds leaning towards a decision being revealed on Wednesday, November 26th at 5pm, just in time for the long Thanksgiving weekend! Place your bets now! Monday, November 24, 2008- Just How Safe Is The Former K-Mart Building? Not Safe At All! Now that Home Depot has performed extensive structural alterations, the building is actually weaker than it was when it was in operation as K-Mart! Dangerously weaker! How Do We Know This? This past weekend, key community members met with Mr. Arnold Bookbinder, a highly respected Structural Engineer and author of many City building codes and earthquake safety standards. It is the opinion of Mr. Bookbinder that the remodeled Kmart building is "unsafe and a hazard to anyone who would enter." We spent over two hours reviewing specific calculations, structural technicalities and earthquake safety. It was a crash course for many who attended the meeting, but this information is not new to the NHDC/STA. We have been pursuing answers from the City about the safety problems with the building since early last year. Many of you wrote letters to the City about it. The possible structural failure of this proposed Home Depot store is alarming to us. We are determined to bring this issue to the forefront, because safety must never be compromised. We'll be in touch with the Department of Building and Safety! Friday, November 21, 2008- The Waiting Continues... Still no decision from City Planning over Home Depot's latest application. In Other News- Home Depot co-founder, Bernie Marcus, catches major flack over his recent statements regarding the recent elections and the Employee Free Choice Act. Mayor Villaraigosa returns to Sunland-Tujunga this Saturday, Nov 22, at 8:45 am at Sunland Park to kick off the "Mayor's Day Of Service" for the East Valley. Limited information is available at http://www.dayofservicela.org/. The STA has invited one of our consultants, a prominent structural engineer and author of many of California's building codes, to speak about his findings in regard to Home Depot's building at 8040 Foothill Blvd. We will report on his presentation on Monday's post! And Finally... Our favorite quote today from the Home Depot message board on Yahoo: "Yes it is unfortunate that mom and pop type stores do go out of business. however, if Walmart, Target, HD, Lowes, etc. did not open their doors then FOREIGN HELD companies would be here doing the exact same thing... ...bright side, these mom and pop owners can work for HD ! they can bring years of how to experience to the company. " Oh brother. Wednesday, November 19, 2008- KABC 7 LISTENS! Channel 7 held their Town Hall meeting last night at Mt Gleason Middle School, and they heard an earful from the community! One after another, residents approached the microphone and told of the uniqueness of the community, as well as the problems Sunland-Tujunga faces. Home Depot came up often! Home Depot came up so often that KABC is now very interested in the story and we will be in contact with them for a possible future story. Stay Tuned! Monday, November 17, 2008- Breaking News! The STNC Land Use Committee, with new chairperson, Tomi Lyn Bowling at the helm, conducts a meeting and brings it to conclusion in only 2 hrs and 18 minutes! This has got to be a record! If you attend these meeting on a regular basis, you understand how thrilled we all are! Ms. Bowling is off to a great start as she has wisely switched the committee business to the end of the meeting, and moved the pressing issues right to the start! This is greatly appreciated by all of us that are unable to stay till the late hour to have an issue addressed. In other news- -The entire community and beyond is on "City Planning Watch 2008" also known as "Maya Watch 2008" (in reference to the City Planner who reviewed HD's latest application for categorical exemption from CEQA). Sorry, no Doppler Radar to track this storm's movements! The determination is currently making it's way up the City food chain for review. A decision could be coming very soon....or not. We will be notified at the same time HD is, and will post that information immediately! -Home Depot has finally cleaned up their leased property a bit. Gone are most of the overgrown weeds, the leaking water streaming down the street, and the bulk of the trash that has surrounded this neglected property for months! Numerous complaints had to be made to the City before this happened, and Home Depot finally did what they were supposed to be doing all along. We'll be watching to see if they keep it up. -A former consultant to the STA has agreed to an informational meeting later this week to present his disturbing findings that the existing building on the former K-Mart site is unsafe, and will be a recipe for disaster should HD be allowed to proceed with their plans. His findings are of grave concern, and we will post details of his presentation after the STA meeting. The STA is sponsoring the event. Check back for a full report! Sunday, November 16, 2008- Thank You Sunland-Tujunga! Our recent fund raising efforts were successful and we have retired the debt owed to a special consultant who has helped us immensely! We could not have done it without your help and generosity! We will not be holding any further fund raising drives until after the new year, but we still have daily operating costs, so we won't be turning away any donations either! Thanks to all that helped to make a big difference in our ongoing campaign to stop Home Depot! The STA site has more on this and other news, HERE! Saturday, November 15, 2008- No Home Depot Campaign Meeting Today's meeting, our first in months, was as fun as it was informative! We had a great turnout of friends and supporters (I mean "gang members"), and our new "clubhouse" was a big hit! Thanks to Paula, Abby, Sheri, Terry, Peter & Regina for arranging the refreshments and setting up the room! Thanks also to Emerson, the owner of the Wired Cafe for donating some much needed coffee! The discussions covered all the pressing issues and although we can't post all the details here, rest assured that this community remains very united against Home Depot, and confident in the case we have made to City Planning. We are more than ready to respond to whatever determination is made. If logic and good planning happens to take a back seat to lobbyists and corporate $$$, we are prepared and eager to deal with this head-on! -What we can report is that the DRP is basically dead in the water, and has lost a great deal of credibility throughout the City due to their handling of the Home Depot issue. -Tomi Lyn Bowling, as the new chairperson of the Land Use Committee (DAC), is forming a group to produce some renderings of what should be going onto the former K-Mart site. This is not only exciting because of the input we can all have, but will be a great tool in our outreach efforts to the community and interested developers! If you want to participate in this project, contact Tomi at Tomi@tomirealty.com Thank you all for a great day! And thanks to all that have contributed to our recent fund raising efforts! Your generosity has been breathtaking! Just today alone, we pulled in almost $400 at the meeting, only to find later, yet another $300 in our mailbox! That was just in one day! WOW! " First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win"-Mahatma Gandhi Friday, November 7, 2008- The STA takes a Field Trip! Today we made a trip downtown to catch up on some matters of importance that affect the Home Depot battle. Also important was to find a great place for lunch (more on that later)! We split up the team and sent one group to attend the Stay of Litigation Status Hearing for Home Depot VS The City of Los Angeles at the Superior Court building. The other team went over to City Hall to review the documents submitted to LA City Planning regarding HD's latest application for CEQA exemption. The Hearing at Superior Court was brief and resulted in a 30 day extension for the Stay of Litigation Agreement. All this really means is that Home Depot will not decide whether or not to reinstate their ridiculous lawsuit until after City Planning makes a determination on their recent application. That decision could be coming in any day! Over at City Hall we met the City Planner who is in charge of evaluating HD's application, and spent some time reviewing the documents submitted. Nothing new over there, except that we got to see the hundreds of letters of opposition to Home Depot from all of you! Nice job, everyone! Your letters are sophisticated, well written, and display great insight into the technical merits of our case. We also had a chance to review the LETTERS OF SUPPORT FOR HOME DEPOT that have been submitted to LA City Planning! All 3 of them. 2 of which were from the same guy. A guy who's biggest argument in favor of having a Home Depot in our community is his determination that (Brace Yourself)... the NHDC is a gang! He also writes that he exists in some sort of purgatory whenever someone from the NHDC speaks to him. Funny letters, although we think he was serious. It takes all kinds... After all this, we regrouped and headed over to a new cafe near the corner of 5th & Main. The place is called The Nickel Diner and it is amazing, for the food, the atmosphere, and the service! Next time you're downtown, make a point of stopping by! Please see the post below for our final fund raising drive of 2008! Go To Next Page |
|
A Photographic Review of the Scope of Work Home Depot has performed at the former K-Mart site. HERE |
| 4 Important Documents 1.NHDC Appeal 2.NHDC Appeal sup. 3.Zoning Admin decision 4.City Council Decision |
| Read the letter that astro-turf website StopRacismCa removed from their website after the June 7th Hearing! This "group" is headed by Daniel Haro, who claims to be an "ex" Home Depot PR employee. HERE. |
| Read the post on LatinoLA by another HD operative trying to convince readers that our issue with HD has to do with "racism". Then read the responses: Here & Here & HERE |
Sunland-Tujunga Businesses That Oppose Home Depot ( under construction, if we don't have you on this prestigious list , please let us know) Save My House Ferguson Music All Points Fasteners Writer For Hire Time To Explore Child Development Center Hot Springs Cabin Rentals Neuenswander Electric The North Valley Reporter Do It Center Foothill Hardware Merithews Hardware Mariosols Nursery Bountiful Gardens Tomi Lyn Bowling Realtor Meares Music, Inc. Image West Salon Century 21 Sweet Stampen Sunland Discount C & M Printing Tujunga Auto Sales Petes Auto Care Sunland Chiropractic The Foothills Paper Rise & Shine Cafe Options Carpet Cleaning Sunland Water Gardens Champion Building Supplies Armstrongs Nursery Family Nursery Creative Expressions Hawkeye Construction John Hastings, Contractor Carl Warner, Contractor INService, Inc Joselitos West Mi Casita Tim Van Pelt Plumbing AJ Masters Glass The Coffee Stop Commerce Deli Charles H. Sanford Plumbing El Mariachi Loco Apparatus Communications Old Towne Optical Quick Copies (thanks for the recent flier donations)!!!! Abby Diamond & Associates |
We are honored and very proud to be joined in our campaign by The Mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio R. Villaraigosa ?? (he said he supported us and then disappeared) L.A. City Councilmember Wendy Greuel SEIU Local 660 The STNC The Northridge West Neighborhood Council Jim Alger LANCC Senator Former LA Mayor, James Hahn The Foothill Trails District Neighborhood Council The SunValley Neighborhood Council NO HOME DEPOT Coalition NE Los Angeles The Mission Hills NC and most importantly, the good people of Sunland-Tujunga! |
| Home Depot In The News! HD evacuated after store fire releases toxic fumes HD Sheds 7000 Jobs, Closes EXPO stores. HD drops Olympic sponsorship HD pays $11.5 mil to get out of lease in Toronto |
| Stay Informed! Get Even More Updates. Visit the STA Blog! Share Your Ideas. Post Comments! |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |