Looking Towards the Future

I talked with newly elected councilman Mr. Brian Campbell last night and he assured me that he will work with eastern R.P.V. and the Eastview area residents and businesses all through his first term. I found that very refreshing.

I did make some comments during the 'Comments not on the Agenda' period at last night's council meeting. I talked about how the least experienced candidate garnered the most number of votes. I hope that individual will learn from Mr. Campbell how to represent all the residents of our city.

One of the biggest issues in our future actually may seem like a tiny issue in other areas.

IF Marymount College goes forward with their Facilities Expansion Project, a traffic signal is planned for the intersection of Palos Verdes Drive East and Miraleste Drive.

Local residents and many of us who use that intersection are NOT fond of having a traffic signal placed there.

As a former member of our city's Traffic Safety Commission, I can write that a signal has been warranted there for years.

I have traveled through the intersection and made turns during the height of school traffic in the morning and at the end of the school day. Yes, it is a tough intersection to get through during those times.

But many of us find that during all other times of the day, a traffic signal seem very unnecessary there.

If the majority of residents really don't want a traffic signal at that intersection, that may be something to work with city staff on, before taking that issue to the council.

Some residents feel that some business areas along Western Avenue need sprucing up. Being that I live above the Western Plaza area of shops with a long parking area, I understand what many are talking about.

Last year we saw improvements at The Terraces which brought about new canopies for the stairways.

Perhaps residents interested in working towards having improvements done along Western Avenue may want to work with the Chambers of Commerce for the peninsula and San Pedro as a preliminary activity prior to taking matters to staff and the council.

There are opportunities to volunteer on the Planning Commission and the committee overseeing the storm drain issues. That group was established when the Storm Drain User Fee was voted in and the oversight committee was mandated.

I don't pay the fee and I think residents who pay the fee would be the best representatives on that committee, versus those of us who aren't required to pay the fee.

I feel the most important near future matter for us on the east side of Rancho Palos Verdes is the finding by the Accreditation Group as to whether Marymount College is granted status to become a four-year institution.

It is my feel that Marymount becomes a four-year institution, they will move quickly to try and change their current Facilities Expansion Project to include on-campus housing that the College removed from existing plans.

I think if Marymount College is not granted four-year status, they may not last as a college.

There are plenty of eastern Rancho Palos Verdes residents who use Palos Verdes Drive East to access Palos Verdes Drive South.

The lower San Ramon and Tarapaca Canyon areas are a real concern for these travelers, if landslides cause Palos Verdes Drive East and 25th Street in San Pedro to become impassable.

While that area is not really in eastern R.P.V., it could be an area that causes potential traffic issues on our side of The Hill.

The lower San Ramon/Tarapaca and Marymount issues should demonstrate to residents on the east side of our city that we are truthfully connected to the rest of our city.

If transportation routes are damaged or altered in ways we don't like or want, that affects all of us.

Right now the Ponte Vista at San Pedro project is still under consideration, basically behind closed doors.

An update report to the Los Angeles Planning Commission is tentatively scheduled for November, by the Los Angeles City Planning Department's team working with the current Ponte Vista at San Pedro development team.

More than one 'fly on the wall' told me that we probably won't see new plans coming out for the project until the first quarter of 2009.

It is also thought by many that the current idea for 1,395-condominiums on the site, will be lowered. We have no real clue yet as to what the new total may be, though.

I post a weekly piece on my www.pontevista.blogspot.com blog. In the past many months I include items that may or may not be related to Ponte Vista, but try and deal with local area items on the east side of R.P.V. and the San Pedro area.

When I served in the U.S. Air Force, I had occasion to visit Luke A.F.B. in Arizona.

I learned there and from other sources about the site on the top of The Hill.

The group that was stationed at the Radomes and other equipment at the site on the top of San Pedro Hill was a detachment from a Group located out of Luke A.F.B.

Back when I served and it still may be the case today, the detachment was part of a Tactical Air Command Group for the fighter defense of the west coast of the U.S.

It seems when 'the enemy' was seen using the radars on the top of The Hill, fighter jets based at Luke A.F.B. in Arizona would scramble to intercept the bombers and (hopefully) shoot them down.

When I was young there was a radar devise that was visible from my home and it was shaped a bit like a banana with a hinge in the middle.

When the steel thing was working it would pivot up and down fairly fast at its middle and it looked scary from a little boy's view, I remember.

My friends and I used to hike up to the site long before the houses were built on Crest Road and we walked around the fence line of the site.

I think with a near future post, I will write about the area east of Western Avenue that is now part of our city. I had fun there, too.