LATEST UPDATE (4/21/07): There will be a hearing about the park in May or June. We have hired a lawyer to defend the park. So far he has never lost a case against the city. Lawyers can be expensive though and we'll need all the donations we can get to save this park! THANK YOU!!
****URGENT!! URGENT!!! STOP THE PARKING LOT IN RUNYON!!****On Weds Sept 20th the Board of Commissioners of Recreation and Parks approved the study to put a parking lot within the gates of Runyon. This decision is unacceptable for us therefore we are filing an appeal to force a full Environmental Impact Report (EIR).
At the meeting we had numerous people there speaking against the lot. We had thousands of signatures on petitions and hundreds of letters against the lot which we also presented. All of 3 people were actually speaking FOR the lot at the meeting. Clearly the wishes of the majority were ignored and the democratic process was ignored!
We learned at the meeting that no one on the Board Comissioners of Recreation and Parks had actually even BEEN to Runyon Canyon- ever! They didn't even know where it was. Furthermore, if this was your job wouldn't you make a point of going out to visit every park in Los Angeles?!
We also believe that the Board of Commissioners of Parks and Recreation already had their minds made up before we even got there! Some of them even rolled their eyes at us and one even walked out of the room for 10 minutes while we were speaking!
We have raised about $5000 for the lawyer to get the appeal going- just in the past two days! Support is STRONG for us and we know we will have a favorable outcome in the end. We estimate that will will need an additional 5-10k as the case goes on. Therefore we NEED ALL your donations now!
Please help us pay for the legal fees and stop the degradation of the park. We thank those who have already donated so much! Your help is much appreciated.
Make your contributions to:
Friends of Runyon Canyon
P.O. Box 931565
Los Angeles, CA 90093
or you can donate ..! Help is needed right now to hire a traffic expert to talk the city out of this terrible decision. Even $5 will help us give a kick in the pants to this parking lot situation.:
Runyon Canyon is a gorgeous park located in Hollywood CA. For some it is the only place we can go to be free of the noise and pollution of the city. It is a sanctuary for many people as well as animals. It is a place where we can bring our dogs and they can run freely.
For some reason our councilman Tom Lebonge has chosen to side with a very small group and IGNORE 3300+ other folks who have made it clear they do not want Runyon Canyon to have a parking lot in it!
Reasons we DO NOT want a parking lot in Runyon Canyon:
1. It is our sanctuary. We don't want cars in it. We don't want car exhaust in it. We don't want construction noise in it. The children's play area would become filled with 80 cars!!!
VS
2. Two words: FULLER AVE. Both the entrance AND exit of the lot is planned for Fuller ave. This street is already very narrow and completely congested. A lot would create a complete bottleneck nightmare. How would people living in the apartment buildings on Fuller ever be able to leave or enter their apartment garages in a timely fashion again?!
3. There's really no problem with parking right now. You might have to walk a block or two to enter the gate but isn't that the point of hiking- to get exercise? A parking lot would only be put in so the city can make money on the park. The next step would be for the city to make the surrounding streets permit only but there are mixed feeling s on this issue. The parking lot would have meters. Furthermore permit parking would be a pain to many of the people who live on those surrounding streets. Where would their friends park when they came to visit? I should know, I used to live on Hillside Ave and I never wanted the streets to become permit only. As far as I know none of my neighbors wished for it either.
4.If you think the parking is bad now- just wait! Not as many people would be able to enjoy the park. Quite simply the 80 space parking lot + the possibility of permit only parking would create FEWER parking spaces. You would be forced to pay for these few spaces even though it's been a free park for the people (and the dogs!) for years! If that lot were to go in and all the surrounding streets made permit that one lot is going to be like Trader Joe's on a Saturday- ALL THE TIME! What a nightmare!
5. Dogs and other wildlife would be in danger. We allow our dogs to run free in this park and now we would have to worry about cars running them over. Let's not forget the countless wild animals who would also be in grave danger.
6. The free yoga classes and the children's play area would be severely compromised by cars being by it. Have you ever tried to do yoga next to a thoroughfare while choking on exhaust?!! Do we want cars racing by children at play?! Absolutely NOT!
7. IT'S ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS AND WRONG!!!!
PLEASE HELP!!!
Tom LaBonge has ignored two petitions with over 3300+ signatures.
He has ignored the Park Advisory Board (formed at his request); the Hollywood Hills Neighborhood Council and the Outpost Home Owners Association, all of which have said, "NO PARKING LOT IN RUNYON CANYON."
Once again please help us pay for the legal fees and stop the degradation of the park. We thank those who have already donated so much! Your help is much appreciated.
Make your contributions to:
Friends of Runyon Canyon
P.O. Box 931565
Los Angeles, CA 90093
Read the news about Runyon Canyon in LA Weekly HERE
Runyon Canyon Park Parking lot Okd
Letter to editor by Elayne Boosler
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Thank you all for your time!