Membership Has Benefits! Discounts are available for TERA Members at participating merchants (see list above.) Look for the TERA Membership Decals at merchant locations. Just show your active membership card. Click on http://www.tera90041.org/tera_membership_merchants_benefits0.aspx to see the member benefits offered by each merchant. If you are a merchant and would like to participate in this program, which includes free advertising in the eLetter, please email president@tera90041.org.

In November of 2007 TERA sent a letter of qualified support for the project. TERA's reservations centered the concerns regarding height waivers for the project, and what would happen if the original developer did not complete the project as presented. The developer planned to build a mixed use development that included 10 condominiums and approximately 1,800 square feet of commercial space.

What we feared has now happened. Not long after the commercial tenants left (Sightwaves) there was a brief period of activity and then things came to a halt. In May, 2012, in response to my email to the developer asking for an update, the developer responded that "We simply can't find a viable solution for the zoning and entitlement difficulties that exist." TERA offered to explore providing assistance. However, there was no response to the offer and that was the end of the dialogue in May.

Recently, it has come to my attention that the property is for sale. My intuition is that in the current economy, assuming that the selling price is realistic, and that prior statements by the developer that there are no toxic soil issues to be mitigated are true, this should not be a long-term blight in our community.

Finally, kudos to ERNC member David Greene. This property is in the area he is representing. He has been very active in helping us all better understand the situation.

DHM Lofts Like a long-running soap opera, the drama concerning the area of greatest blight in Eagle Rock continues. The good news is that the drama continues and the show has not been cancelled by the developer walking away.

The primary challenge at this time is for the developer to find an alternative that will further stabilize the hillside; a solution that is both economically practical for the developer and one that the city will accept. It appears that little progress has been made in that regard.

The hard, cold reality is that doing nothing now, leaves the hillside and the residents on top of the hill at the greatest level of risk. Perhaps it is time for the City to accept a good solution as opposed to an optimum solution. Should this developer walk away, I fear the hillside will remain a risk to all and a major blight on our community for a long long time.

Digital Billboards This is a case of doing something before it happens.

Imagine that it's a beautiful summer evening and the sky is clear. But you cannot see a single star. Later, as you try to fall asleep in your bed you are treated to a constant and ever-changing light show at the windows to your bedroom. That is the reality of residents whose homes are located so that they are subjected to the light emitted by digital bill boards. There is absolutely a place for digital billboards. LA Live, an almost exclusively commercial area, is an excellent example of where these billboards make sense. But if billboard companies have their way, these billboards will be present on many main thoroughfares throughout Los Angeles, thoroughfares that are immediately adjacent to residential communities. The spillover light from these structures will seriously impact the quality of life for residents in the area.

So far Eagle Rock has been spared the presence of these billboards. It is not certain, but possible, that the Colorado Boulevard Specific Plan may be providing some protection on Colorado Boulevard. However, Eagle Rock Boulevard, another heavily traveled street that might one day be a candidate for digital billboards, does not have the advantage of such protection.

Recently the Court of Appeal unanimously affirmed an earlier Superior Court ruling that invalidated an agreement between the City and CBS Outdoor and Clear Channel. It also ordered that 103 digital billboards, erected during the period of the invalidated Agreement, be turned off. As to be expected, CBS Outdoor and Clear Channel are resuming litigation for expanded rights to erect digital billboards throughout the City.

TERA has sent a letter to several government leaders, including José Huizar, asking them to support the Superior Court ruling to the highest extent possible, encouraging the guidelines for digital billboards to be carefully considered and restricted to appropriate areas. You can offer your further support by sending an email with the subject "Limit Digital Billboards" to our Councilmember at Councilmember.Huizar@lacity.org.

As promised, the Los Angeles Planning Department released its Traffic and Safety Analysis Report on January 17. A key component of this report is to predict how traffic might be impacted, if among other things, bike lanes were introduced. We were surprised by the results of the report, especially the depiction of the intersection of Colorado Boulevard and Sierra Villa. Jeff Jacobberger, a consultant representing Civic Enterprise and a member of the Take Back the Boulevard team, accompanied me as we drove back and forth through the intersection. Following are Jeff's comments regarding the recently published report and our driving experience.

During Take Back the Boulevard's planning process, we informed Eagle Rockers that the Departments of City Planning and Transportation were studying whether installing bike lanes on Colorado Boulevard-which in most sections would involve removing a travel lane-would increase traffic congestion and, if so, by how much. Those departments recently released their long-awaited "Traffic and Safety Assessment." During most of the day, bike lanes would not create any additional congestion on Colorado Boulevard because the road is far wider than necessary to carry existing volumes of traffic. Even during morning and evening rush hours, a bike lane would not cause additional traffic congestion along most parts of Colorado Boulevard, although some intersections would see a modest increase in traffic congestion.

The Traffic and Safety Assessment, required under California's environmental and planning laws, looks at six key intersections along Colorado Boulevard: (1) Northbound SR-2 Glendale Freeway exit ramp; (2) Broadway; (3) Sierra Villa Drive; (4) Eagle Rock Boulevard; (5) SR-134 Ventura Freeway ramp; and (6) Figueroa Street.

The report uses traffic counts and lane configurations to calculate the average traffic delay at each intersection-the length of time it takes a car to get through the intersection-during the busiest hour of the morning rush hour, and the busiest hour of the evening rush hour. Each intersection is then assigned a "Level of Service" or "LOS" score for each time period. LOS scores range from A to F, not unlike a report card. However, while a "C" might not be a particularly good grade on a report card, it is considered a good score in a built-up urban environment. The report then projects how much, if any, additional traffic congestion delay might result if bike lanes were installed and a vehicle lane removed, and also assigns an LOS score. The traffic delay and LOS score are not based on actual observations of traffic congestion on Colorado Boulevard. Instead, traffic count data is fed into a computer program that spits out results, results that on occasion may not reflect reality. Thus, Eagle Rockers should evaluate the Traffic and Safety Assessment in light of their real-world experience of driving in our neighborhood.

Take Back the Boulevard's primary goal is to make Colorado more of a main street for Eagle Rock. That means making it a street that works well for pedestrians, bicyclists and transit users; and creating an environment that encourages and sustains a vibrant and active commercial district. The LOS analysis ignores these considerations, and focuses only on how well Colorado Boulevard moves motor vehicles. Under this model, anything that slows traffic is considered "bad," even when there is widespread agreement that our streets should be designed for everyone.

Even so, along most of Colorado Boulevard, traffic would continue to move freely if a vehicle lane is replaced with a bike lane. Three intersections-SR-2 exit ramp, Broadway and SR-134 ramp-all get a "B" score even after bike lanes are installed, and would not increase traffic congestion and vehicle delay by more than 4 seconds, which likely is less time than it took you to read this sentence.

At Colorado/Eagle Rock Boulevard and Colorado/Sierra Villa, there is some congestion today and bike lanes would add somewhat to that congestion. At these intersections, the traffic signal cycles are 90 seconds long. During the morning rush hour, the average motorist is delayed about 37 seconds at Eagle Rock Boulevard, and 29 seconds at Sierra Villa. There are a lot of left turns onto and from Eagle Rock Boulevard and Sierra Villa. These "conflicting" movements mean that a lot of cars have to stop at a red light. After bike lanes are installed, the study estimates that the average motorist would have to wait about one light cycle at Sierra Villa (95 seconds) and a bit more than one light cycle at Eagle Rock Boulevard (110 seconds).

The study's analysis of evening rush hour delays at Eagle Rock Boulevard and Sierra Villa defy explanation. The report states that, today, during the evening rush hour, the average motorist waits more than 4 minutes (or nearly 3 light cycles) to get through the signal at Sierra Villa, and another 4 minutes (or 3 light cycles) to get through the signal at Eagle Rock Boulevard. Quite simply, this is not the reality in Eagle Rock today.

That is why Bob Gotham and I spent a chunk of time driving back and forth through the intersection of Colorado and Sierra Villa several times last Thursday. We apologize for adding to rush hour traffic, but we wanted some real-world observations of traffic conditions. Bob drove slowly, and made every effort to hit every red light he could. We started the stopwatch as soon as Bob started to slow down, and didn't stop it until we were well clear of the intersection. Whether he was going straight through or making a left turn, Bob never took more than one minute (and certainly never close to four) to get through the intersection, no matter how hard he tried. Our real-life experience came nowhere close to the predictions made by the report. Take Back the Boulevard is working with the Planning Department to resolve this issue.

The Figueroa/Colorado intersection currently gets a "C," with average delays of 20-26 seconds. The report analyzed the impact of installing bike lanes on both Colorado and Figueroa. Here, Figueroa and Colorado each have two through lanes in each direction. If both streets are reduced to one through lane in each direction, traffic congestion increases somewhat to an average of 56 seconds in the morning peak and 40 seconds in the evening peak. That is still less than one traffic light cycle.

The report also analyzed the impact of removing curb parking, instead of a traffic lane, at this intersection. On Figueroa, some curb parking could be removed between Colorado and La Loma, which would have minimal adverse impact because the handful of businesses along this short section of Figueroa has ample off-street parking. Under this scenario, average traffic delay would be about 40 seconds at the busiest times of day.

More to come once we have had the opportunity to discuss the report results more fully with the Planning Department.

Bike Lanes - Public Hearing The Planning Department and Department of Transportation will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, February 13, 2013, to receive public comment on proposed bike lanes on Colorado Boulevard and North Figueroa Street. Supporters of Colorado Boulevard bike lanes should attend that meeting and voice their support. The meeting will be held from 6 pm to 8:30 pm at the Los Angeles River Center & Gardens, California Building, 570 West Avenue 26, Los Angeles, CA 90065. For a map, see: http://goo.gl/maps/iPUIY. If you cannot attend that meeting, the Planning Department will hold a Webinar on February 20, 2013, 2 pm to 4 pm. Check the LADOT Bike Blog (http://ladotbikeblog.wordpress.com) for webinar log in details.

Group Ride The Los Angeles County Bike Coalition (LACBC) will hold a group ride along Colorado Boulevard and Figueroa Street on Sunday, February 10, 2013 at 11 am -- see the "Ride Figueroa" flyer appearing below in this newsletter. The ride will provide an opportunity for bicyclists of all ages and abilities to explore destinations in Eagle Rock and other parts of Northeast Los Angeles, and to demonstrate support for these bike lane projects.

Recently Jane Usher extended invitation to community leadership throughout the city to attend a meeting. Attendees were largely representatives of Neighborhood Councils from other areas of the city. Eagle Rock was represented by TERA. The City Attorney's office was reaching out to community leadership in order to provide an update on the marijuana landscape from the legal perspective. This understanding gives valuable insight into the challenges and opportunities that exist in finding a solution that is fair to both those with a medical need and to the larger community.

My most profound observation at the meeting was that I do not envy Jane Usher, the lead attorney assigned to issues regarding the marijuana at the City Attorney's office. Her job is to provide counsel and to craft initiatives and potential law responding to the direction from the City Council. Hers is not an easy task for many reasons.

Gaining Council consensus is often a challenge. In order to craft legal language there needs to be a clear understanding of the goal to be achieved. The City Council frequently does not speak with the clarity of one voice - leaving it to the attorneys to discern what thought represents the group. Interestingly, one of the reasons that smaller surrounding communities (Glendale, La Canada, etc.) have been able to deal more quickly and pragmatically with the marijuana dispensaries is the ability for the councils in those cities to more expeditiously arrive at a consensus regarding direction.

The body of law that surrounds marijuana is quickly evolving. Lack of clarity in state law allows for differing interpretations. The outcome of any of the large number of marijuana cases sitting before judges today can impact the interpretation of less than clear state law. For example, a judge in Riverside will soon rule on whether or not dispensaries can be banned on a local basis. That could have an obvious influence on how Los Angeles approaches the situation. Finally, federal laws add to the legal murkiness. Not only is there a frequent conflict between federal, state and local laws, but there is also fact that the federal government sometimes makes decisions to not enforce laws selectively. It all adds up to the fact that Jane Usher, of the City Attorney's Office, plays a game that requires considerable precision, but is composed of few rules and an ambiguously defined playing field.

Initiatives to provide regulation to the Marijuana industry will be on the May ballot. Two initiatives have been proposed by groups supporting dispensaries. On the surface both initiatives appear to set guidelines that would provide reasonable limits on the number of dispensaries. However, a careful examination of both initiatives reveals aspects allowing a greater presence of dispensaries than is desirable. The City Council recently directed the City Attorney's Office to craft a third initiative that will also be found on the May ballot. Work on that initiative is in progress.

The presence of dispensaries in Eagle Rock has been largely eliminated. However, one should not assume that there is any guarantee that this situation will endure. Long-term an accommodation for those who truly have a medical need must be found. It is important for us to be aware of the steps being taken to find the long term solution and provide feedback. Else, we may wake up one day and once again find that Eagle Rock has become Dispensary Central.

Kudos to the City Attorney's office for reaching out to communities, for taking the time to make us more informed regarding the complications of an issue that appears so simple on the surface.