By Nadine Mendoza-Province
Dear City Council Members,
I left the City Council meeting Monday night stunned, primarily because of what can only be called the cavalier attitude of all of the Council members, with the exception of the mayor, whose measured, thoughtful and extremely valuable opinion absolutely must be considered.
I take umbrage at the comments that the 100 percent-in-agreement neighbors’ statements were merely anecdotal. One only has to consider the actual number of people who travel up and down the 10700 block of Farragut Drive every single day, and the reasons (the five schools, the coffee house, the nail shop and the 12-hour daily church activity) to understand how clearly and unequivocally impactful it is on this neighborhood.
What better “study” could be executed than by the people who have lived on this street for decades and experience that impact 24 hours a day?
When the Grace Lutheran Evangelical Church presents you with the schedule of events it holds and hosts, I hope the Council is mindful the church should include not only the church’s “official” events, but those, too, in which they “allow” or “rent.” Ken Smith initially stated there were only “two services” on Sunday, and only admitted, when pressed and questioned, that there are other services (not official “Grace Lutheran Evangelical”). In other words, the church should accurately provide any and all groups and services who avail of their not-a-single-parking-space facility.
I implore you to consider how many people use the 10700 block of Farragut Drive daily:
1. To and from the pre-school (all students must be accompanied and registered daily by adults, who are primarily driving).
2. To and from Farragut Elementary
3. To and from Culver City Middle School.
4. To and from Culver City High School.
5. To and from Culver City Adult School.
The most impactful of all:
Grace Lutheran Evangelical Church and its 49 weekly meetings and assemblies.
No other residential block in Culver City is as impacted by traffic and populace over so prolonged a period of time, as the 10700 Farragut block. There is no comparison between Farragut and Franklin. All of the entry doors to Grace Evangelical Church are directly on Farragut and Overland. There are no public entrances on Franklin. Franklin is not in the direct path of the CCUSD quad. A small dental office is on the north corner of the 10700 Franklin block — absolutely no comparison to what 10700 Farragut endures.
It is disingenuous to suggest there is any equanimity between the residents of the 10700 Farragut block and the residents of 10700 Franklin, or any other block in Culver City.
As a taxpayer, I find it absurd that the Council would consider spending an estimated $20,000 (likely more, since two streets are under consideration for a “study”), to only come to the conclusion that those of us who live here already know. The $20,000 guess-ti-mated by city engineer Gabe Garcia does not include the impact on his own office, the time involved and the other projects impacted.
A “study” is a massive undertaking and would involve a huge financial commitment from the city, and further, potentially dangerous impact on the 10700 block of Farragut if all restrictions are lifted. The mayor pointed out the precedence of the Grace Lutheran Evangelical Church’s proposal — are Council members willing to take on the financial and staff burdens of “studies” on every residential street with parking restrictions?
