PRP Meeting: Monday, April 22, 2002 at 7 - 9 pm
Jewish Community Center - Located at 5870 W. Olympic Boulevard

Abigail Zimmerman of Mayor Hahn's Office gave a report on Operation Healthy Neighborhood (OHN):
During the period from April 1 - June 30, Pico (between La Brea and Sierra Bonita) is designated as a "hot spot" for the city to clean up dilapidated buildings, enforce code, fix broken windows, and target complaints associated with autobody shops. Abigail reported that:

• Watershed Protection Division has identified five auto-body shops along Pico Corridor with environmental issues, has visited them and in some cases issued warnings and inspections.
• Department of Building and Safety has identified sixteen auto-body shops along Pico Corridor which have code violations and/or issues to be addressed.
• OHN cleaned an alley off San Vicente (between Sierra Bonita and Maselin)
• Abigail is coordinating a meeting between Alma Stent (PRP Environmental Committee) and Preston Meyer (Principle Investigator, Building & Safety) as well as other city officials to coordinate historical records related to the auto-body shops along Pico Corridor.

David Dahlke reported that a resident(s) in his neighborhood is circulating a flyer to protest Stocker Oil drilling, which apparently is creating a lot of noise in the neighborhood. David reminded the group that Stocker has pledged $85,000 for a pocket park along Pico Boulevard, as well as landscaping on the streets around their building.

Neighborhood Matching Grants are available, and applications are due on May 7, 2002. We discussed applying on behalf of PRP as well as our individual neighborhood associations, and talked about different projects that would fit in with the guidelines of the program. More specific details are available on the website for Neighborhood Matching Funds.

Samuel Villalobos from the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) reported the status of the CRA project on Pico Boulevard. This project is called Pico Boulevard Targeted Neighborhood Initiative Program (PB-TNI) and funding will be provided for the enhancement of existing storefront facades and/or replacement/repair of existing store signs. Eligible property owners and tenants can apply for up to $25,000 per storefront. The deadline has been extended until June 30th (from May 16th). CRA is contacting property owners in the designed section of Pico (between Sierra Bonita and W Boulevard) to inform them of the project. Three architectural firms are to be reviewed by a co-committee of CRA and PRP representatives. More information about the Community Redevelopment Agency is available on their website or contact Mr. Villalobos at 213-977-2611.

The Comedy Union is hosting a Comedy Show for the Pico Revitalization Project. The event -- free to Pico Revitalization members -- is on May 4th, 2002 at 7:30 pm. RSVP to Roxanne Brown at grtbrown@attbi.com or 323-938-8620. The Comedy Union is located at 5040 West Pico Boulevard, 2 blocks west of La Brea and has recently had a new facade design done on the exterior of the Club. For more information about The Comedy Union, contact 323-934-9300.