The Westwood Village Improvement Association is a nonprofit organization tasked with improving the state of Westwood Village. Property and business owners created the association in 2011 to provide the Village with functions the city of Los Angeles could not provide. Its board of directors meets monthly.
- Andrew Thomas, the association’s executive director, said two board members have resigned to take up projects outside of Westwood. These members were Josh Weisman of J.S. Rosenfield property management and James Wroblewski of the W Hotel in West Beverly Hills.
- Thomas also said the Broxton Avenue public parking structure will continue being painted through January.
- Jessica Dabney, board member and representative of North American Realty property management, said the Ad Hoc Affecting Homelessness Committee of the LA Homeless Services Authority discussed merchant challenges with homelessness and will be changing the times when law enforcement will remove homeless individuals from stores.
- Jim Brooks, the association’s chair, said the executive committee approved a 4 percent pay increase and 10 percent bonus for Thomas and his staff.
- Erin Schneider, Metro/West LA field deputy for the supervisor of LA County’s District 3, which includes Westwood, presented a summary of recent policies passed by the LA County Board of Supervisors, including a rent stabilization policy for unincorporated territories and the inclusion of vaping and cannabis in county smoking restrictions.
- Thomas presented the findings of the association’s occupancy analysis. Out of 235 ground floor, commercial spaces in the specific plan area of Westwood Village, 10 currently leased buildings are empty, and 27 are vacant. Brad Erickson, a representative for UCLA, suggested an additional third-party evaluation.
- Hagu Solomon-Cary, planning deputy for city council member Paul Koretz, said Koretz will present a 90-day report-back in council Friday. The report will cover what effect planning and zoning regulations have on vacancies in Westwood, including the Westwood Village Specific Plan, the master planning document for zoning regulations in Westwood.
- Solomon-Cary added that the association could pass a motion to modify the specific plan 12 to 18 months after the results of the report are presented in February.