The Westwood Community Council meets several times a year to discuss issues relevant to the Westwood Village business and residential community.
Comments by public officials
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Carmen Healey, assistant director of UCLA Community and Local Government Relations, introduced Rachel Kennison, assistant director at the Undergraduate Research Center – Sciences, to speak about the UCLA Sustainable LA Grand Challenge. Kennison talked about a class that is part of the UCLA Grand Challenge, in which students work on projects to improve sustainability in Westwood.
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Healey said UCLA is considering adding 2,000 beds to the residential halls on the Hill, including converting some doubles into triples and some triples into quads, to accommodate the increase in enrollment for the 2016-2017 academic year.
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She also said the environmental impact report for the Geffen Academy will be out soon and a public meeting will be held on May 25.
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Janet Turner, field representative for the office of Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, said UCLA will add several mental health resources for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, including a wellness center, an addiction center and legal services.
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Turner asked for suggestions from council members on how to improve the United States Postal Service mail delivery system in Westwood, which has failed to deliver mail regularly and has upset members of the community.
Discussion
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Steve Sann, chair of the Westwood Community Council, said Whole Foods Market donated 5 percent of all sales Wednesday to the Westwood Village Improvement Association, also known as the BID.
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Sann said there will be a public forum on the re-writing of the Los Angeles City zoning codes April 6 at the IMAN Foundation Center in Palms.
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Sann said the annual homeless count in Westwood found that the homelessness increased by one-third. Westwood Park and Westwood Village were the areas that saw the highest increases. Additionally, there were no homeless people counted on the UCLA campus. Sann said he thinks the count was more accurate because they went out two hours later and that the increase is a pattern across the Los Angeles County.
Motions
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The council voted to support a measure that would give city zoning administrators the right to impose conditions on the sales of alcoholic beverages in Westwood.
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It also voted to support motions that would call the city to enforce all zoning and building codes, a small lot subdivision ordinance amendment and governance reform within the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
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The council approved a motion to support the modification of the Westwood Neighborhood Council’s “community stakeholder” definition to be more flexible.