The Porter Ranch Development Company provided the PRNC with a letter on the status of grading as of January 30, 2012 indicating that they are ahead of schedule.
Grading plans were the topic of conversation at the July 12, 2011 PRNC meeting. Teresa Sousa, Director of Planning and John Buller, Director of Engineering of the Porter Ranch Development Company (PRDC) explained the upcoming grading operations.
The largest effort will be conducted between Mason, Porter Ranch Drive, Corbin and Sesnon. Within these confines, the map indicated five areas targeted for grading. Three of the areas will be graded to move land to fill in the area adjacent to the Porter Ranch Community School, currently under construction at the corner of Mason and Sesnon. PRDC plans to use four haul routes to reach the fill area; none will cross or add wear and tear to any streets. See maps below.
The overall objective is to complete the grading operations before the start of the new school in the fall of 2012. In fact, even though the economy doesn’t currently warrant the immediate grading of these parcels, the PRDC was requested by the City Council Office, the PRNC, and LAUSD to accelerate their plans, so that the students will not be impacted by associated dust and noise.
Grading is expected to begin in the July / August timeframe. The hours of operation will be 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Monday through Friday, and 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM on Saturday. They will use as many crews as possible to complete the job safely and follow protocols for dust mitigation, stopping work when the wind is too high. In spite of these assurances, residents of the Villagio gated community, located just north of the work area, expressed alarm about a haul route located near their property. The PRDC indicated that they would take a close look at the available haul route options to address concerns. Residents with concerns are invited to contact Vonda Grove of the PRDC at 818 332-7219 or vgrove [at] shapell.com for assistance.
A second grading effort will also be underway to the west of Mason in two areas. All that dirt will stay within the confines of their grading zones. Lastly, grading has just begun at Rinaldi and Porter Ranch Drive to prepare for construction of the Aldea community.
Read their letter dated April 6, 2011.
PRDC Grading FAQ
MORE CONSTRUCTION NEWS HERE
Other Meeting News
Porter Ranch School
Many of the decisions we are waiting for are about to be made. The new principal should be announced in the July/August timeframe. The school boundaries should be announced in August/September. The school is designed to be a neighborhood school. Initially, it will be used to reduce the crowding at Castlebay Lane School, and take some students from Germain Street School. Clearly, as the western side of Porter Ranch grows, more and more of the students will come from homes that aren’t even built yet.
There is some discussion at LAUSD for a dual language (English/Korean) program at the school for those parents who want their children to be proficient in both languages. This is not ESL. More information will follow. The school is a K-8 school. The decision has not yet been made about what grades will be taught when the school first opens. It is likely to be K-6 or K-7.
LAFD
The “hook and ladder” truck at Fire Station 28 is no longer manned. There still is a pumper engine. The one extra fire fighter (Apparatus Operator) and the Captain II’s that have served us the last few years on the truck have gone to other assignments at LAFD. The Captain II’s have been replaced by experienced Captain I’s. The other firefighters at Fire Station 28 will stay in place. They know the weird street names in Porter Ranch. The new Captains will be stepping up and learning our area quickly.
Captain Jones from Fire Station 28 is one of the “new” Captains. She has been a firefighter for many years and most recently was an Urban Search and Rescue Captain at Fire Station 87 in Granada Hills. She invites you to stop by Fire Station 28 and meet the new Captains. Firefighters work a 24 hour shift, and then go home. So there are 3 different “platoons” of firefighters to keep the stations open 7x24x365.
The Fire Stations in our area are part of Battalion 15. Due to retirements and realignment all three of the Chiefs at Battalion 15 are new to our area too. The Neighborhood Council will invite the new Chiefs to our meetings so we can meet them as well.
Battalion Chief Richard Elder spoke to the Neighborhood Council. He said that the Fire Department recognizes that Porter Ranch took a pretty big hit with the staff reductions, and they are looking at ways to make things more equitable. There will be more firefighters and equipment in Porter Ranch on high fire danger days, and other improvements are in the works.
LADWP
There is a hearing on July 20 (see the calendar for details). The DWP is planning to make a decision in August sometime regarding the rate hike. You may voice your concern via web on the DWP's site.
Cell Tower
Mr. Kramer, a resident of the Villagio/Renaissance area reported that there is a new cell tower at the entrance to Renaissance. The cell company, T-Mobile, now ATT, said it was reviewed and approved through our NC, but the records show that it was never received by us. The primary concern is that the proper process was not followed to allow for community notice and input which might have impacted the location of the tower. Residents are interested in having it relocated. Mr. Kramer will send us the information and documentation of this issue.
Whole Foods
The request us to approve their permit to extend their liquor license was granted by the board. Pat Pope will send out a letter to the planning commission for the PRNC.
Whole Foods Liquor License Renewal Hearing Notice. This item was also discussed at the July 12th meeting.
Meeting Agenda for July 122, 2011
Grading Charts
The Porter Ranch Community School site is shown in purple. Areas outlined in blue with hash marks are to be graded. Green dashed lines indicate haul routes.
Image of area between Mason, Porter Ranch Drive, Corbin and Sesnon. Image by Google. Taken before January 2010, showing the school site before grading.
