February 28, 2020

This week, construction began on the Van Nuys temporary housing site, located at 7700 Van Nuys Boulevard. This structure will house 100 individuals experiencing homelessness in the Van Nuys area. It is at one of the Valley’s most connected Transit Hubs, with access to buses and trains, near the LA County Social services building.

The A Bridge Home project is slated to open in June. At that time council district 2 will have 185 beds available to serve the homeless.

This news follows the public launch last week of the first homeless navigation center in Los Angeles, located on Sherman Way in North Hollywood.

Councilmember Krekorian is grateful to neighbors in the surrounding community for working with our office on the Van Nuys site. With their support he was able to secure the location, which when completed will provide additional sanitation and police services.

The homeless crisis is real and pervasive, but it is not unsolvable. In CD2, there is real progress in pursuit of that end.

See the video announcement

Los Angeles – On February 7, 2020 at the City Council meeting in Van Nuys City Hall, Councilmember Ryu introduced a motion to explore options for a safe parking program at a parking lot on Oxnard Street west of Sepulveda Boulevard. Safe Parking lots allow Angelenos who are experiencing homelessness and living in their cars and RVs a safe place to park overnight with access to bathrooms, services and outreach.

“Solving homelessness takes more than just one kind of solution –  we need bridge housing, permanent supportive housing, services and safe parking,” Councilmember Ryu said. “That’s why Council District Four is tied for first in the number of Bridge Home projects, it’s why we have seven different homeless housing and resource centers open or underway, and it’s why I’m calling for the eighth one today: Safe Parking on Oxnard Street.”

The motion introduced today seeks a feasibility study for Safe Parking at the lot, located at 15380 Oxnard Street on the Sherman Oaks-Van Nuys border. The parking lot, which is more than 20,000 square feet in size, is owned by the Army Corps of Engineers and under a long-term lease to the City of Los Angeles.

2019 began a new chapter for the Van Nuys Neighborhood Council as we held an election, thanked outgoing members for their service and swore in new members in June. We have had a change in leadership, electing new officers and new committee chairs have stepped up. Everyone is working on learning how to work together and be mindful of how Neighborhood Councils are to function.

Our focus is to give stakeholders the opportunity to consider and make their voice heard on a few key issues each meeting, allowing the Board to then vote on sending a Community Impact Statement to City Council which is the official way we are able to represent our constituents.

Topics we have heard and weighed in on include:

• Supported a call to LADWP to adopt a 100% real, clean energy by 2030 scenario as part of its ongoing 100% Renewable Study
• Supported completing an Environmental Impact Study for the Bus Rapid Transit in North San Fernando Valley
• Supported Permanent Supportive Housing at 14142 W Vanowen with 64 units in a currently vacant lot
• Supported a Vacancy Tax as a strategy to increase the amount of homes available to rent.
  Supported Medicare for All
• Bridge Housing for 7700-7798 Van Nuys Blvd

Our committees are up and running and an easy way for you to plug in and make a difference. From Beautification to Planning and Land Use, we have something for everyone. Check them out here: https://vnnc.org/board/committees/

“My 2020 Vision is to support Van Nuys to grow and flourish, making it a safer place to live and a shining example of success and resilience,” shares VNNC President Sam Woolf.

All of our meetings are open to the public and present you will an opportunity to share in our public exchange of ideas so that we might collectively make our Van Nuys voice heard! Join us second Wednesdays at 7pm at the Marvin Braude Constituent Service Center, 6262 Van Nuys. For more information please contact info@VNNC.org.

November 21, 2019 the Los Angeles Planning Commission voted to approve the permanent supportive housing project called The Confianza proposed for 14142 Vanowen St, which we discussed at our November 13 meeting.

The Confianza will be managed and operated by Skid Row Housing Trust. The project will have a total of 64 units – 63 of which are Permanent Supportive Housing, with one market rate manager’s unit. Construction for this project is tentatively scheduled to begin in September 2020.

According to UrbanizeLA, “The Gensler-designed complex would consist of five residential structures surrounding a rear-facing courtyard. A series of pedestrian bridges would connect the buildings on their upper floors.”