PPCC Backs YMCA Landscape and Usage Plan

The Pacific Palisades Community Council voted unanimously last Thursday to support landscape improvements and usage guidelines for the .

The agreement caps more than two years of negotiations between YMCA staff and members of the PPCC Y Committee—Chair Emeritus Richard Cohen, Treasurer Ted Mackie and Jack Allen.

"We are thrilled to have the agreement between the YMCA and the Committee on the conceptual design for the Beautification Plan for Simon Meadow," states a May 3 letter from the Palisades-Malibu YMCA Board of Mangers to Norman Kulla, Northern District director and senior counsel for Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl. Kulla also participated in the negotiations in recent months.

"Regarding the Beautification Plan and uses, YMCA volunteers and staff have taken all suggestions very seriously and made major modifications to our plans based on the ideas and concerns expressed by the planning committee," according to the letter.

The agreement features the following:

• A community advisory group, comprised of three community members appointed by the PPCC president, the Temescal Canyon Association and the District 11 city council member as well as three YMCA staff members, will meet regularly to tackle concerns that arise from the Simon Meadow facility's affect on the community. A council office representative and a member of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy also have the option of attending the advisory group meetings.
• Signs and banners that advertise events must be placed no less than 100 feet from the Sunset Boulevard curb.
• Moon bounce use can take place no more than three times a week. Moon bounce operation time must either coincide with the permit-designated time frame for events such as the YMCA's day camp, Christmas tree lot and pumpkin patch. For other events that have a moon bounce, the operation time is a six-hour maximum, and evening events must end the moon bounce attraction at sunset.
• Storage trailers, portable restrooms and other temporary structures must be placed at least 100 feet from Sunset Boulevard.
• Catering trucks are restricted to occasional use.

PPCC member Stuart Muller abstained from the vote, citing his concerns over what he called the "vagueness" of the catering truck provision and other elements of the agreement's wording.