Last week the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the Westfield’s revised The Village.  If you enjoy reading hundreds of pages, check it out here: The Village at Westfield Topanga

Check out some coverage of these developments in the Daily News.

As much as anyone loves Costco, all should be aware that this project is going to be traffic nightmare.  Here are some highlights from that portion of the EIR describing intersects with unmitigatable traffic issues, just in phase 1.  Interestingly some 70+ intersections are affected, and many modifications would require widening roads onto private property.

Topanga Canyon Boulevard & Vanowen Street (Intersection #1). No feasible project-level
improvements could be found to mitigate the impacts observed at this intersection. Due to the
physically constrained nature of this location, improvements such as roadway widening and lane
reconfiguration would likely result in substandard improvements or require the demolition of a
commercial building on the southwest corner or the encroachment into a high school campus on
the northeast corner. Service stations are located on the other two corners.
Therefore, no feasible project-level physical mitigations are available and the impact would
remain significant and unavoidable.
The update of the WCSP is considering the removal of the raised median along Topanga
Canyon Boulevard. If this were accomplished, a physical improvement could be implemented
here that would mitigate the Project impacts. This will be discussed at the end of the chapter.

Owensmouth Avenue & Erwin Street (Intersection #8). No physical mitigations were
identified for this location. This is a physically constrained location; additional physical
mitigations may conflict with planned improvements along Owensmouth Avenue. The
implementation of the project-level TDM program is unable to fully mitigate the significant impact
at this location. This location would remain significantly and unavoidably impacted under the
WCSP significant impact criteria; however, it would not be significantly impacted under the
LADOT Traffic Study Policies and Procedures criteria.

US-101 Westbound On-Ramp & Burbank Boulevard (Intersection #19). Intersections 19 and
20 make up the north side of the Topanga Canyon Boulevard/US-101 interchange. A number of
different interchange configurations were tested but none offered substantial congestion relief
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without the demolition of current residential or commercial buildings, or the total reconstruction
of the US-101 overpass. Therefore, no feasible improvements could be found to mitigate the
impacts observed at this intersection, and the project impact would remain significant and
unavoidable.
The update of the WCSP is considering the removal of the raised median along Topanga
Canyon Boulevard. If this were accomplished, a physical improvement could be implemented
here that would mitigate the Project impacts. This will be discussed at the end of the chapter.

Topanga Canyon Boulevard & Burbank Boulevard (Intersection #20). No feasible
improvements could be found to mitigate the impacts observed at this intersection. (See
discussion above for Intersection 19.) Due to the physically constrained location and proximity
to the US-101 freeway, improvements such as roadway widening and lane reconfiguration
cannot be accommodated without significant modification to the intersection, the adjacent US-
101 ramps, and the US-101 overpass. Therefore, no physically feasible mitigations are
available and the project impact would remain significant and unavoidable.
The update of the WCSP is considering the removal of the raised median along Topanga
Canyon Boulevard and parking prohibitions along Burbank Boulevard. If these were
accomplished, a physical improvement could be implemented here that would mitigate the
Project impacts. This will be discussed at the end of the chapter.

NEIGHBORHOOD IMPACTS
Phase 1
As discussed in Chapter 4, the Phase 1 project is projected to generate approximately 9,719 net
new daily trips on a typical weekday. Using the project trip distribution also described in
Chapter 4, the number of trips that may be added to any particular arterial corridor was
projected and the extent of the projected addition of 1,600 or more daily trips was determined.
This threshold represents approximately 16% of the daily traffic; those corridors with 16% of the
traffic assignment were identified as a potentially affected corridor. Figure 57 illustrates the
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extent of this area along each of the corridors leading to/from the project site during Phase 1.
Corridors to which 1,600 or more daily trips are projected to be added by the Project include:

• Topanga Canyon Boulevard between Vanowen Street and Ventura Boulevard
• Victory Boulevard between Randi Avenue and Canoga Avenue

The presence of congested cumulative conditions and the availability of local street(s) providing
a parallel route of travel in the vicinity of congested portions of the corridors were then
investigated for each of the corridors. The following discusses the results of this investigation
for each corridor:

• Topanga Canyon Boulevard, Vanowen Street to Burbank Boulevard – The three

intersections along the Topanga Canyon Boulevard corridor from Vanowen Street to
Burbank Boulevard projected to operate at LOS E or F include:

• Topanga Canyon Boulevard & Vanowen Street
• Topanga Canyon Boulevard & Victory Boulevard
• Topanga Canyon Boulevard & Marylee Street

Several alternative routes are available that bypass the section of Topanga Canyon
Boulevard between Vanowen Street and Burbank Boulevard. Shoup Avenue is an
attractive alternate route to Topanga Canyon Boulevard. Residential streets that provide
access from Topanga Canyon Boulevard include Schoolcraft Street and Kittridge Street
to Randi Avenue. Due to the discontinuous street system west of Topanga Canyon
Boulevard, these two streets are identified as potential routes for cut-through traffic to
access the alternate arterial routes.
A potential alternative route that would avoid the section of Topanga Canyon Boulevard
between (just north of) Vanowen Street and Burbank Boulevard could be Topanga
Canyon Boulevard to Schoolcraft Street to Shoup Avenue to Burbank Boulevard. The
arterial traffic cutting through these neighborhoods to access Shoup Avenue could be
considered a neighborhood intrusion impact.
Another potential route to bypass the Victory Boulevard intersection is Kittridge Street to
Randi Avenue/Nevada Avenue to Oxnard Street and to Shoup Avenue or back to
Topanga Canyon Boulevard. The arterial traffic cutting through these neighborhoods to
access Shoup Avenue could be considered neighborhood intrusion impacts.
Although these routes are potentially less attractive, traffic from Topanga Canyon
Boulevard could access the residential streets south of Oxnard Street to gain access to
both Shoup Avenue and Owensmouth Avenue. Therefore, the potential arterial traffic
could be considered a significant neighborhood intrusion impact.

• Victory Boulevard, Topanga Canyon Boulevard to Canoga Avenue – The two

intersections along the Victory Boulevard corridor from Topanga Canyon Boulevard to
Canoga Avenue projected to operate at LOS E or F include:

• Victory Boulevard & Topanga Canyon Boulevard
• Victory Boulevard & Canoga Avenue

Erwin Street can serve as a bypass to the section of Victory Boulevard between
Topanga Canyon Boulevard and Canoga Avenue. No parallel alternative routes via
local residential streets are available; however, residential streets may be used to
access Erwin Street.
Potential alternative routes to Erwin Street include Victory Boulevard to Randi Avenue or
Glade Avenue and on to Erwin Street. The arterial traffic cutting through these
neighborhoods to access Erwin Street could be considered neighborhood intrusion
impacts.
As discussed, a potential alternative route that would avoid the Topanga Canyon
Boulevard & Victory Boulevard intersection could be Victory Boulevard to Randi Avenue
to Kittridge Street to Topanga Canyon Boulevard. Again, the arterial traffic utilizing this
route could be considered significant neighborhood intrusion impacts.
On the basis of the above investigation, three neighborhoods were identified that may be
subject to significant neighborhood intrusion impacts upon completion of Phase 1. They include
the areas bounded by the following:

• Schoolcraft Street to the north, Topanga Canyon Boulevard to the east, Vanowen Street to the south, and Shoup Avenue to the west.
• Kittridge Street to the north, Topanga Canyon Boulevard to the east, Victory Boulevard to the south and Randi Avenue to the west.
• Victory Boulevard to the north, Topanga Canyon Boulevard to the east, Oxnard Street to the south and Randi Avenue/Nevada Avenue to the west.

Wow, I see some prison time in a cop’s future.  Incredible.  I had remarked privately to friends the day of the shooting that even if the incident was real, which I had assumed it was at the time, the ridiculously long ‘lock down’ of the area was absurd being that I’m sure the assailant was long gone by the time back up would have arrived.  What kind of elaborate scam was this officer trying to pull off?

LA Times Blog writes:

A Los Angeles school police officer who was wounded last week in a shooting that prompted authorities to shut down a large swath of Woodland Hills concocted a story that he was the victim of the shooting, authorities said Thursday night.

The startling revelation came at a hastily called news conference by Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck, who said detectives became suspicious about the officer’s story as they investigated the case.

Police earlier had said that Los Angeles Unified School District Officer Jeff Stenroos was shot in the chest after he was confronted by a man Jan. 19 as he was attempting to break into vehicles in Woodland Hills, near the eastern boundary of the El Camino Real High School campus.

The incident generated a massive police response that inconvenienced thousands of people for the day as officers blocked roads, shutdown schools and refuse to let people in or out of a 7-square-mile area.

More than 300 officers swarmed the west San Fernando Valley, locking down nine schools and setting up the dragnet as they looked for a suspect described as a white man in his 40s, wearing a bomber or black hooded jacket and blue jeans.

While many expressed frustration and anger at the inconvenience caused by the size and length of the operation, LAPD officials defended the decision as necessary to protect the public. They noted that the incident was especially serious because it involved an attack against a fellow law enforcement officer.

Authorities had even offered a $100,000 reward for information of the case and compiled a composite of the shooting suspect.

These videos are from the November 8th meeting of the PLUM committee. Apparently whatever changes Costco/Westfield made to the previous proposal were minimal and unsubstantial, and things got pretty ugly. Westfield’s chief snake oil salesman John Alderson’s head practically exploded in the second video. Good stuff.

Update: (insert the Unsolved Mysteries “Update” music here) Woodland Hills Warner Center Neighborhood Council member Jim Anderson tells me that there have in fact been no changes to the plan.  Further, the Costco portion of the project and The Village portion of the project have been somewhat separated.   In my opinion this is so that Westfield can have even less accountability when they completely fail to build The Village and all the community is left with is a big box Costco.

My question to “Done Deal” Dennis Zine, who stated that he would not vote for this plan, is, “well, now what since they refuse to change it?”

I didn’t know the status of the previous light was so ghetto.  This is good news to all, I’m sure.

Eric Sondheimer writes for the LA Times:

Anyone who has attended a football game at Woodland Hills Taft knows the stadium lights rank among the worst in Los Angeles.

Finally, after years of complaints, Taft is about to unveil new lighting. The new poles are in, the new concrete has been set but the wiring still needs to take place, so there will be one final game with the old lights on Friday before the new lights can be activated for the first round of the playoffs.

Former Coach Troy Starr, now the head coach at San Diego Helix, used to make fun of the near darkness, saying it gave Taft an advantage because visiting teams had trouble seeing the ball.

“That’s unbelievable,” Starr said about the new lights. “That means anything is possible in life. I may have to come and check a game out.”

But remember, there’s one final game with the old lights.

“Pull the cars up and turn on the headlights,” Coach Matt Kerstetter joked.

The Consumerist writes:

The FDIC seized four more banks on Friday. That brings the total number for 2010 to 143, the most in a year since the S&L fiasco back in the 80’s. Here’s who went down:

* K Bank based in Randallstown, MD – $538.3 million in assets
* Pierce Commercial Bank based in Tacoma, WA – $221.1 million
* Western Commercial Bank in Woodland Hills, CA – $98.6 million
* First Vietnamese American Bank in Westminster, CA $48 million.

The assets and deposits were quickly gobbled up by other banks, with the FDIC and the acquiring bank splitting the losses on K Bank and Western Commercial Bank.

The size and scope of the banks that went down for the count this year are on average than those last year. However, the pace and number reflects how communities and local lending institutions are struggling to keep their commitments as more loans go sour. Last year 140 banks went under.

The average consumer is not at risk, as the FDIC guarantees deposits per account up to $250,000.

Western Commercial Bank writes on their website:

On Friday, November 5, 2010, Western Commercial Bank, Woodland Hills, CA was closed by the California Department of Financial Institutions. Subsequently, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was named Receiver. No advance notice is given to the public when a financial institution is closed.

All deposit accounts have been transferred to First California Bank, Westlake Village, CA. For more information on First California Bank, visit us at http://www.fcbank.com/.

The FDIC has assembled useful information regarding your relationship with Western Commercial Bank. Besides a checking account, you may have Certificates of Deposit, a business checking account, a Social Security direct deposit, and other relationships with the institution.

Please select the link below to read more about this event:

FDIC Bank Closing Information for Western Commercial Bank

Online service will remain available.

Western Commercial Bank was located at 21550 Oxnard St # 100.

The Daily  News writes:

In what police called a rare string of robberies in the San Fernando Valley, two masked men on Saturday night robbed a liquor store, drug store and a sandwich shop – even taking cash and cell phones from patron, in less than 2 hours.

In an unrelated robbery, another armed suspect robbed a liquor store on Laurel Canyon Boulevard, Los Angeles Police Department Officer Karen Rayner said.

“It’s quite unusual to have so many in such a short span of time,” Rayner said Sunday.

The first robbery occurred at 8:45 p.m. when two men, one armed with a handgun, entered a liquor store in the 21000 block of Ventura Boulevard in Woodland Hills and demanded cash from the till.

About 15 minutes later, the same men robbed a sandwich shop in the 16000 block of Ventura Boulevard in Encino. At 10 p.m., the men robbed a large drug store in the 15600 block of Ventura Boulevard in Encino, Rayner said.

“They had their faces (partially) covered (with bandanas), were wearing gloves, demanded cash and ended up walking away with an undetermined amount of cash from all the locations,” Rayner said.

Rayner described the suspected robbers as black and between the ages of 20 to 30.

The suspects also demanded cash and cell phones from some customers in the businesses, Rayner said.

See the rest of the story at DailyNews.com.

From LAist.com:

Thanks to a law signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger earlier this month, cities now have the power to ban mobile billboards, and Los Angeles, which pushed the issue with state legislators, will be no exception. Today a city council committee (.pdf) will discuss three motions that could spell out the death for the unhitched trailers that display ads throughout the city, mostly in the San Fernando Valley.

The three proposals are:

• Directing city departments to create an enforcement plan if a mobil billboard ban is approved.
• Increasing the penalty for illegally parking an unhitched trailer on a city street.
• Issuing business licenses with the condition the business will not use mobile billboard advertising.

Opponents of mobile billboards say they add blight to neighborhoods, consume parking spaces and can be a public safety hazard when blown over by wind. Proponents behind them promise to fight any ban in court.

Jersey Mike's coming to Woodland Hills

Noticed this a couple of weeks ago, but now we have an opening date courtesy of Eater LA.  This store is opening in place of the defunct Quiznos Sub next to The Habit Burger.

Eater LA writes:

With new locations in Beverly Hills, Monrovia, Calabasas, and Irvine, Jersey Mike’s Subs adds one more to the list with its next store opening in Woodland Hills (22649 Ventura Blvd.) one week from today on October 13. As part of the grand debut, for its first five days of service, Jersey Mike’s will distribute coupons through the community for free subs with a $1 donation benefitting the American Kids Cancer Fund.

From the Daily News:

Los Angeles County’s record high unemployment rate of 12.6 percent is expected to draw at least 3,000 job seekers – and more than 80 employers – to an annual job fair next week in Woodland Hills.

Although it’s called Honor a Hero – Hire a Vet, the Oct. 7 job and resource fair is open to anyone. The fourth annual event is co-sponsored by the Valley Economic Alliance and the California Employment Development Department.

Alliance Vice President Kenn Phillips said about 120 of the 850 veterans who attended last year’s wound up with jobs. While that’s considered a high success rate, the sheer number of applicants reflects the scope of the region’s unemployment crisis.

“What we find for is, for the most part, people have been unemployed for over a year and in some cases two years,” Phillips said.

Michael Sherwood, field office manager at the EDD’s Pacoima office, said about 4,000 people have attended the Valley events over the last three years.

“I will be surprised if we don’t have a huge turnout,” he said of next week’s event. “There are a lot of short-term and long-term unemployed clients out there that we hear from. The demand for jobs is very high.”

And while these kinds of jobs fairs do not usually result in on-the-spot offers, they area a valuable tool for anyone who wants to start drawing a paycheck again, Phillips said.

“It really gets (job seekers) organized and understanding who are the different employers that are hiring and some in larger numbers, like banks.”

Phillips recommends that attendees bring at least two dozen resumes to the fair, which will have computers available so job seekers can complete applications online.

Among the employers sending representatives to the fair is Medtronic, the world’s largest medical technology company, which has 45 openings at its Northridge campus and more than 400 others at its facilities in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

Kyla White, a senior manager at the Northridge office, said Medtronic is seeking applicants for product engineers and project managers.

“Our big focus right now is on product development,” she said, “but we do have some pockets (of jobs) in some other areas as well.”

She recommends that candidates research companies they are interested in before attending the fair and come dressed for success.

“A suit is great but as long as you look professional and tailor (your attire) to the position you are applying for gives a good indication you are interested in making a good first impression,” White said.

Honor a Hero – Hire a Vet job and resource fair will be held 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 7 at the Warner Center Marriott, 21850 Oxnard St., Woodland Hills.

Get the PDF list of employers here.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will be speaking tonight at the Woodland Hills Homeowners Association meeting tonight at 7:30pm.

Kaiser Hospital

Auditorium “A” First Floor Building 5

5601 De Soto Avenue

Woodland Hills, CA 91367

*Free Parking*

For more details, visit WHHO’s site.