Hawthorne Press Tribune Herald Publications - Inglewood, Hawthorne, Lawndale, El Segundo, Torrance & Manhattan Beach Community Newspapers Since 1911 - Circulation 30,000 - Readership 60,000 (310) 322-1830 - August 25, 2016 Learning to Repair the Community A lead construction technician learns how to operate a backhoe at Situation City, a training facility in Los Angeles. The training is designed to prepare construction technicians to respond and repair natural gas lines that are damaged by dig-ins out in the community. Photo provided by SoCalGas City Council Discusses Potential Addition of Digital Billboards Along 105, 405 Freeways By Derrick Deane Billboards along the 105 and 405 freeways took center stage at the Hawthorne City Council meeting Tuesday night as the city looks to update and in some cases, relocate aging canopies in the city. Planning consultant John Ramirez explained that the new and amended codes are, “intended to allow the city to proactively seek improvements to the existing aged billboard structures that we see throughout the city.” At present time, billboards are not allowed in the city, so if there is a pre-existing one, “there’s no opportunity for the private owner of that billboard to modernize, digitize, or otherwise expand, repair, or improve the billboard structure,” Ramirez said. The city has looked to nearby cities such as La Palma and Carson for the past five years in an attempt to address the issue. “The city of Hawthorne has decided that it would be a benefit to the local neighborhoods that are subject to the visible blight of these structures that are in disrepair and are aged to relocate these structures into an area that provides higher visibility for travelers through the city along the 105 and 405 freeways,” Ramirez said. Ramirez says that the billboards would also be an opportunity to highlight local businesses along the major corridors that run through the city. “The code seeks to move those aged structures out of our neighborhoods and out of our streets and put them in areas that are more appropriate that would benefit the city and businesses in the long run,” Ramirez said. In order for a billboard to receive approval, it would need to pass three stages. The first step is approval from CalTrans which would oversee specifics such as brightness of the sign and glare as well as placement of the billboards. The second and third steps involve the city of Hawthorne itself, first with the Planning Commission issuing either their approval or denial followed by the City Council’s decision. If at any time a billboard is denied along those three phases, the discussion ends. Still, the multi-layered oversight didn’t stop Councilman Nilo Michelin from launching into more than a half hour worth of questioning about the ordinance change. Michelin sought insight on to whether the public had any input on the matter, what the goal of the ordinance was – “to remove old signs or provide revenue for the city,” and if there was a cap on the number of billboards that could be placed along what is being referred to as the “Freeway Overlay Zone.” “The goal, as far as I am concerned, is all of these,” City Manager Arnie Shadbehr said. “Not only is it going to address the blight issue, it provides opportunity to improve the city’s visual character, especially along Inglewood Avenue. In addition to that, this is not a blanket amendment. It just opens the door for each billboard to come before the Planning Commission and the City through the discretionary process.” “There is benefit to the public [as well], I would say,” Shadbehr continued. “I can say that the billboards are wonderful to advertise for commerce and improve the economic state of the city as well as the existing commercial entities we have throughout the city.” Ramirez says that there was public input on the matter via the Planning Commission with Shadbehr reiterating that each billboard has to go through an approval process. Michelin cited a map that was handed out to the council of approved properties, which Ramirez said he didn’t think had received any public feedback. “I’m worried about this because there isn’t a maximum number of signs that are allowed,” Michelin said in his final comments on the matter. “It’s [seems like], well, we’ll take care of that in the future and that concerns me.” Ramirez addressed Michelin’s concern stating that the Freeway Overlay Zone runs about three miles along the 105 and 405 freeways and calculating in a minimum mandatory separation of 1,000 feet, the maximum number of digital billboards would be 16 on each side. “That’s theoretical,” Shadbehr said, to which Ramirez agreed. “I would say the physical conditions of the sign and also limits they have in regards to the number of digital credits they have is going to drastically reduce that number.” Shadbehr added that if the council would like to suggest a cap, it would be something that his staff could look in to. Michelin quickly said, “I would suggest a cap. Sixteen on each side is very troublesome for me, even if it is theoretical.” Mayor Alex Vargas closed the discussion citing the Hotel Zone along Imperial Highway as an example. “It’s a zoning change that we are [considering] to make in order to make it accessible to anybody who would like to build hotels along Imperial Highway,” Vargas said in his example. “I think that with this specific zone ordinance change with regards to the overlay zone, it’s just that – we’re making it accessible in case anybody in the future would like to build something, they would go through the three levels [of approval],” Vargas said. “Every single sign could be denied. I would like to give out City Council up here some credit that we would be sensible enough to be smart to not overpopulate the sides of the freeway,” Vargas continued. “If you’re referencing the previous administration under the previous mayor and former city manager, I would be worried. But I think we’re sensible enough to be able to police the situation ourselves. Introducing a cap means we don’t trust ourselves.” • Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals.......................4 Classifieds............................3 Community Briefs...............2 Food.......................................5 Hawthorne Happenings....3 Legals.............................2,6-7 Pets........................................8 Sports....................................4 Weekend Forecast Friday Partly Cloudy 70˚/62˚ Saturday Partly Cloudy 70˚/62˚ Sunday Sunny 74˚/64˚ The Weekly Newspaper of Hawthorne
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