Dear Neighbors,

URGENT ALERT....:

Please submit comments to the City Public Comment Portal and email CD4 as soon as possible to support our neighbor's CEQA Appeal of the 6555 Franklin Ave. (and Whitley Ave.) TOC project, as the proposed project will impact ALL of us..

The Public Hearing is 11-02-2021

Sample letter and details for submitting comments are below.

Submit comment to the City Public Comment Portal and email CD4 office.

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Here is an excerpt of what the Whitley Heights October Newsletter had to say about the 6555 Franklin Ave. project::

"Brian Dyer is our (Area 3) representative to the Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council. He informed everyone of the 6555 Franklin Ave Project an apartment building (70ft. in height + roof-top deck) approved for construction at the north-east corner of Whitley and Franklin avenues. Current Zoning only allows 35ft. construction height in a hillside High Fire Hazard Severity Zone; because the apartment complex is being built along a transit-oriented corridor, it qualifies for double height bonuses under the City's Transit Orientated Communities Incentive Program (TOC) without receiving Design Review or Public input.

While the proposed project has already been approved by the city Planning Department, Dyer said we do still have an opportunity for input. A Whitley Heights resident has filed a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) project Appeal to the City, due to the project's Density and Height Bonuses being arbitrarily granted in direct disregard for the safety of hilltop residents in a designated hillside High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. Additionally, the negative impact of a roof-top party deck directly adjacent to the hillside. Voice your concerns to the Office of Councilmember Nithya Raman and Planning Director Mashael Majid mashael.majid@lacity.org " Whitley Heights October, 2021 Newsletter _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Cc... -Our CD4 area rep: Jorge Plascencia jorge.plascencia@lacity.org -Our HHWNC Area 3 rep: Brian Dyer area3chair@hhwnc.org _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Lots of Community Support for the 6555 Franklin Ave. TOC project 'CEQA APPEAL' is needed Since WH is a Transit Oriented Community, there will be many more of these projects in our neighborhood. We must try to enlist help from our new CD4 office..information below. This is a huge Public Safety issue;

Some of you may remember the WHCA (Hollywood Heritage Museum) Town Hall with former Councilmember Ryu, during the FIRE SAFETY discussion, when the TOC issue was brought up, that the city had given a 70% or 75% Density Bonus to a proposed TOC on Whitley Ave. (between Whitley Terrace and Franklin) where only a 30% or 35% Density Bonus is allowed, for PUBLIC SAFETY, since we are in a VERY HIGH FIRE SEVERITY ZONE, then Councilmember Ryu promised he would never allow that kind of dangerous Density Bonus to be allowed here again..and told the audience of Whitley Heights residents: "I Will Fight For You!" Now, we must get the new CD4 office to Fight For Us! To Fight for our Safety! Written comments can be submitted through the Public Comment Portal: www.LACouncilComment.com Include and write in e-mail Subject Line:

-6555-6561 W. Franklin Ave. -Council File: 21-0627 -CEQA Appeal ENV-2020-7353-EAF-1A E-mail....

CD 4 planning staff Mashael Majid.... mashael.majid@lacity.org

Cc... -Our CD4 field rep: Jorge Plascencia jorge.plascencia@lacity.org -Our HHWNC Area 3 rep, Brian Dyer... area3chair@hhwnc.org

_____________________________________________________________________________________________ Sample Letter (A real letter submitted and in Council File 21-0627)... To: mashael.majid@lacity.org Subject:

Council File: 21-0627

6555-6561 West Franklin Avenue / California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) / Appeal / ENV-2020-7353-EAF-1A Dear Mashael, We write to express our grave concern about the proposed TOC project at 6555-6561 Franklin Avenue (Council File: 21-0627 / ENV-2020-7353-EAF-1A), and urge you to accept the CEQA appeal and scale back this development to one that is safer for the future tenants and current neighbors. The location is clearly unsuited for a project of this size, due to it being in a High Fire Severity Zone located on an overloaded critical artery--Franklin between Cahuenga and Highland--bookended by F-rated intersections. In the event of an emergency in Whitley Heights, this choke point corner will already be a dangerous obstruction to our neighbors getting safely down the hill--there are only two ways out. Please do the right thing and reject the upzoned TOC project at Franklin and Whitley in favor of something of appropriate scale that will not endanger lives. Yours sincerely,

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Please include:

Ask CD4 for a 'Design Review', and they should be doing a 'site review,' come and visit the site.

A 70 ft. height + Roof Top Deck project, in a Very High Fire Severity Zone where current Zoning allows only 35 ft height for PUBLIC SAFETY, is dangerous and unacceptable..especially being the main access and evacuation street for the VHFSZ WH Hillside Community.

Environmental and Safety Issues must be studied, as per this 'CEQA Appeal'....(California Environmental Quality Act) for the SAFETY of ALL of us. The project cannot be exempt from CEQA, (Environmental Impact Studies) since this is in, or very close to, an Alquist Priolo Zone (EQs) and in a Very High Fire Severity Zone, and it is a heavy Traffic area, with often heavy congestion on Franklin, which could make access difficult for Emergency Services, and could make Evacuation difficult in case of Fire and Earthquakes. And then there's that Roof Top Deck..we know where the sound travels....UP....to Whitley Heights. Imagine as more TOC projects, with proposed Roof Top Decks go up around us, and they will, in addition to all the hotels with Roof Top Decks going up below us, how this will impact life in Whitley Heights.