I have been a homeowner on Lafayette Place in Culver City for nine years. When I moved in, the neighborhood was peaceful and safe.
After four or five years, a city decision caused Lafayette to become a street for drivers to hurtle down in their quest to bypass Duquesne. Obviously, it created a lot more traffic. Next a series of condominiums were erected on Lafayette and Lucerne, adding yet more traffic plus many more cars parked on Lafayette (plus Irving, Van Buren, Braddock and Duquesne).
Ongoing Downtown development continues to increase traffic on Lafayette and throughout this once quiet neighborhood.
The latest debacle is the pending development at 4043 Irving Pl., a building consisting of 26 condominiums, three offices and only 68 underground parking spaces. This makes little sense in keeping our streets safe and peaceful.
The new building would be directly across from a preschool and the back exit driveway of the Police Dept. on Lafayette. It would be across the street from the elementary school on Irving Place and adjacent to historic concrete bungalows, which could be structurally impacted by underground parking construction, and on the same block as single family dwellings.
Yet more cars speeding in both directions at the same time would cause safety issues for the little children who are dropped off and picked up in front of both schools.
Perhaps this is in violation of the amount of distance required between a development of that size and a school. Increased traffic would most likely hinder our Police Dept. when exiting onto Lafayette.
Many neighbors share my reservations about this project. We intend to be at the meeting on April 9th at 7pm in the City Hall council chambers. We will ask for access to environmental impact reports, traffic assessments, and structural reports addressing the peril our neighborhood and the registered landmark homes face. All Culver City residents who feel that their quality of life may be impacted are urged to attend the meeting.
