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 - March 13, 2014 Inside This Issue Calendar...............................3 Classifieds............................3 Hawthorne Happenings....3 Food.......................................5 Legals............................. 2,4,6 Newspaper Fun...................7 Pets........................................8 Police.....................................3 Sports....................................4 Weekend Forecast Friday Sunny 70˚/53˚ Saturday Sunny 77˚/56˚ Sunday Sunny 86˚/58˚ Little League’s 57th Season Starts Hawthorne city officials were on hand March 8th to launch the 57th season for the Holly Park Little League. Mayor Chris Brown (center) presented a Certificate of Recognition to HPLL President Rafael Scott (wearing white cap). Also participating were Council members Olivia Valentine and Alex Vargas and City Treasurer L. David Patterson. Photo by Tom Quintana. Hawthorne Boulevard Downtown Specific Plan Report to City Council By Nancy Peters The consulting company MIG presented its first report to the Hawthorne City Council at the latter’s Tuesday evening meeting after months of gathering data and one community workshop back in November. The presentation did not require any votes or approvals and summarized the vision MIG is espousing for the plan. Nothing presented was pointed out to allude to anything more than a “wish list” and not as concrete decisions or recommendations. Many of the ideas, such as the improvement of mobility, are already among the major projects coming out of the Public Works Department within the next few months. The next community workshop is being held on Thursday, March 13 in the Polaris Room at the Hawthorne Memorial Center from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Public input is encouraged and is being collected as a viable piece of the puzzle of improving Hawthorne Boulevard. The introduction of an ordinance amending provisions of the Hawthorne Municipal Code relating to the building of condominiums sparked discussion and a request for explanations from Planning Director Gregg McClain, who brought the revised wording to the attention of the Council. The language to be revised, if the ordinance is eventually approved, deals with the minimum standards and square footage of the configuration of the levels of units, such as bachelor to three-bedroom units, and parking minimums for a condo complex. McClain also explained that the wording will match the minimum standards for building apartments, encouraging condo building. One of the ideas from MIG is to build storefronts with living quarters, which could be condominiums, above with parking structures adjacent to encourage multi-use along certain portions of Hawthorne Boulevard. The ordinance was introduced and will be brought back for a second reading at the next Council meeting. As part of the City Manager’s consent items on the agenda, the Council approved the designation of Hawthorne City Hall as a Passport Acceptance Facility of the US Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs. There will be a fiscal benefit to the City, as the processing fees collected for this service will offset the costs of part-time staff hours from current Human Resources staff and the postage to send processed applications to the State Department. The program will begin in mid-March and be available Monday through Thursday, and alternating Fridays, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. by walk-in and appointment. The Hawthorne Boulevard Mobility Improvement Project, for which bids were open at the last Council meeting, will be awarded to All American Asphalt Company of Corona. The project will begin in mid-April with bicycle lanes added, fewer driving lanes, elimination of some portions of the center medians, widening of sidewalks, additional traffic signals at more frequent intervals from Rosecrans Avenue to Imperial Highway, and newly configured parking spaces. Part of the discussion items submitted under Mayor Chris Brown’s name were three community events to be sponsored by the City or City Council, outside the parameters of the nonprofit organization events that are approved for waiver of fees and donations of stipend money from elected officials if they want to do so. Councilmember Alex Vargas requested more information on each item presented: Business Resources Breakfast, First Ladies Health Day, and Back-to-School Give-Away. Vargas pointed out that making these events part of the nonprofit group would be more beneficial to the event and the City General Fund. Also, providing more information allows for “transparency” of Council activities to the public. Brown explained the Business Resources Breakfast is in conjunction with the El Camino Business Development Office and the First Ladies Health Day is being sponsored by Walgreen’s with free medical testing. The Back-to-School Give-Away was a point of contention as the Mayor could not give more information about the sponsor of the event, which prompted Vargas to question the request. A discussion ensued that caused the Mayor to call for a motion to approve his request for all three items as presented without more information and despite a recommendation from the City Attorney to take each item as a separate motion and vote. The motion passed by a vote of three in favor, an abstention cast by Councilmember Vargas, and Councilmember Angie Reyes-English absent (as she was for the meeting and all other votes). These three events will be sponsored by the City with dates to be determined. The tabling of an ordinance presented at the last Council meeting dealing with the Hawthorne Municipal Code related to emergency shelters and transitional housing was removed since a requested report was received. However, the second reading of the ordinance was delayed until the next Council meeting in order to provide more time for the report to be reviewed. The State of the City luncheon on March 28 at the Memorial Center at 11:30 a.m. still has tickets available and these can be purchased from the Hawthorne Chamber of Commerce. The Volunteer Appreciation Day on April 27 at 2 p.m. at the Memorial Center requires the completion of a form to be returned to the Hawthorne President’s Council by April 4. The Hawthorne Relay for Life is scheduled for May 3 and 4 at the Hawthorne High School track and a kickoff will be held at the Moose Lodge on Inglewood Avenue on Monday, March 17. The Vietnam Veterans’ Association is accepting essays and applications for four $1,000 scholarships from seniors from any high school in the South Bay until 11:59 p.m. on April 13. The website is scholarships@vva.com The new City of Hawthorne website should be bookmarked by all at cityofhawthorne.org, as the current website will be taken down soon. The next meeting of the Hawthorne City Council is scheduled for Tuesday, March 25 at 6 p.m. •
Lawndale 03_13_14
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