Lawndale Tribune AND lAwNDAle News The Weekly Newspaper of Lawndale Herald Publications - Inglewood, Hawthorne, Lawndale, El Segundo, Torrance & Manhattan Beach Community Newspapers Since 1911 - Circulation 30,000 - Readership 60,000 (310) 322-1830 - February 13, 2014 South Bay High School Hoops in Action Hawthorne's Nutori Johnson dribbles toward the basket as she is being defended by Inglewood's Nicole Lemberg in last week's Ocean League girls' basketball action. The Cougars fell to the Sentinels 58-27 and finish league at home against Santa Monica tonight at 6 p.m. (Right) Inglewood's Myron Morgan prepares for a slam dunk in last week's Ocean League boys' basketball game against Hawthorne. The Sentinels routed the Cougars 91-54. Inglewood visits cross town rival Morningside their league finale tonight at 7:30 p.m. Photos by Joe Snyder. Inside This Issue Business Briefs...................3 Calendar...............................3 Classifieds............................5 Hawthorne Happenings....3 Food.......................................6 Legals............................... 4, 7 Pets........................................8 Politically Speaking............2 Police Briefs........................2 Police Reports.....................2 Sports....................................5 Weekend Forecast City Council Reluctantly Approves Housing Element Despite High RHNA Assessment By Nancy Peters The Hawthorne City Council listened to a presentation from Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), the entity that assesses cities and assists to establish Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) numbers to determine the units for housing over an eight-year period. The approval had to come during the Tuesday, February 11 meeting or forfeit the eight years to four years and have to still live with the very high numbers. While the RHNA numbers only affect planning for housing across a balanced group of all income levels and does not mean building must meet any numbers in any one income bracket, these numbers can cause developers to think they can propose to build large, low-income housing projects. The City Council became concerned that the plan to develop more one-family homes for purchase or new businesses along the boulevard could be overshadowed and take the City goals off course. The vote to approve the housing element, effective from October 15, 2013 through October 14, 2021, included two abstentions from Council members Alex Vargas and Nilo Michelin, while Mayor Chris Brown, Mayor Pro Tem Olivia Valentine and Councilmember Angie Reyes-English voted in the affirmative to pass the resolution. Hawthorne is the third most densely populated city in the county and surrounding cities in the South Bay have much lower RHNA numbers due to many factors: projected household growth, market vacancy need, housing replacement need and excess vacancy rate based on credits from the 2010 census. The for sale or for rent units distribution is 682 units over the eight-year period, with no room for appeal to lower the numbers and no possibility of a new assessment until after 2018. Don Dear, Director of the West Basin Municipal Water District, advised on the need for support of at least five State Legislature bills in committee or ready for signature that will affect water usage due to the statewide severe drought. Citizens are urged to conserve daily water usage. Suggestions will be posted on the City website, such as use of efficient showerheads and shorter showers, efficient low-water toilets, once-a-week usage of a dishwasher, no car washing, minimal lawn watering and use of reclaimed water from conservation gardens if possible. An ordinance was approved for the contracted extension of the petroleum pipeline for Phillips 66 Company which includes the increased annual franchise payment of $14,847.38 for 15 years through February 28, 2029, a renewal fee negotiated for one-time payment of $52,728.71, and a payment to cover staff time and publication costs in the amount of $7,500. An ordinance was introduced to address panhandlers and prohibit them from loitering within 10 feet of any ATM or facility that houses an ATM. A resolution was passed to allow exemption from personal property taxes for any properties related to the aerospace industry in support of State Assembly Bill 777. Another resolution approved the statewide Housing Rehabilitation Program governed by the HOME program and CDBG funds and to confirm that Hawthorne follows the guidelines for use of the CDBG funds and assure low to moderate income housing is kept in decent, safe and sanitary condition and that single-family homes can be made available to those in these income brackets. Bids were publicly opened during the meeting for the Retrofit Project of the Central Plant Air-Conditioning and Automation Systems at the City Hall building. There were two bids received, but only one vendor included pricing and the required safety declarations. The bid from Emcor-Mesa Contracting in the amount of $576,734 was accepted and approved unanimously. The Council also approved spending money on public notices and marketing for the Downtown Hawthorne Specific Plan Open House on Thursday, March 13 at City Hall for the public to view plans, make suggestions and ask questions of staff and the vendor (MIG) designing the new downtown to be more user-friendly. The expenses include newspaper ads in as many South Bay publications as possible over four weeks to ensure the public is informed for the event. A claim filed against the City by a citizen who charged false arrest, excessive force, personal injuries and violation of his civil rights during a SWAT and hostage stand-off after his pet was allegedly shot by a Hawthorne Police Officer was unanimously denied. Mayor Brown introduced the CEO of Apptology, a company that develops applications for SmartPhones available to everyone with the proper equipment. A prototype of an app for the City of Hawthorne was demonstrated and Apptology will present a proposal for future consideration by the Council for actual development of the application that will give the City exposure in the world of advanced technology and social media. There will be a workshop on Saturday, February 22 from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. for those interested in debt management, foreclosure, qualifying for home purchases, etc. at the Hawthorne Memorial Center. All are invited to attend any of the three workshops by contacting City Hall (310)-349-2901 to RSVP to the event. The next meeting of the Hawthorne City Council will be held on Tuesday, February 25, 2014 at 6 p.m. • Friday Sunny 71˚/55˚ Saturday Partly Cloudy 69˚/56˚ Sunday Partly Cloudy 67˚/54˚
Lawndale 02_13_14
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