Is PVE Safety Adequate?

PVE Community Newsletter

Serving Lunada Bay, Malaga Cove, Montemalaga and Valmonte

Is PVE’s Safety Adequate?

FIRE RISKS REMAIN HIGH AND UNADDRESSED:

PVE’s History of 11 Fires, but Remains Unprepared
CM McGowan directs staff to Limit Fire Trimming, Reducing Safety
Council Took No Action when Advised Our Hydrants are not Tested
We need Cost Effective Safety Services
Use Evacuation Simulations to Save Lives
What is Our Capacity to Fight a Fire?

ALERT: BURGLARY CRIME SPREE (10 burglaries in 5 weeks - Jan 1 to Feb 9)

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PVE’s History of 11 Fires, Yet Remains Unprepared

2023: Council was advised: “11 fires have overlapped within the city limits (see picture). In total, approximately 275 acres have burned” [page 26]

Council was advised, by the safety consultant LINK and documented in the Safety Element evaluation LINK funded by the taxpayers that we have an “urgent” need to address unmitigated fire risks in the city. No action has been taken.

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Development of Open Space Prioritized over Safety?

The City Manager states, after receiving more than 100 calls from concerned residents LINK he recommends more trimming especially in the high risk areas LINK

CM McGowan seeks to limit trimming to $250-$500,000 LINK which is not enough to include areas assessed as high risk LINK

Yet, PVE has $40 million in the bank. LINK [page 17] shown below. which are the most recent audited financials.

Why is CM McGowan directing staff to limit funds for safety, while prioritizing funding for his AECOM development project on Open Space?

9/1/22: The city disclosed portions of the AECOM contract which includes development of housing and commercial LINK (Task 2) on Open Space LINK. Why isn’t this reported in the City Newsletters?

Another Councilmember states on social media: Residents have been “sold out” by the AECOM development project. LINK

“One of the more significant options for non-tax revenue is the famous AECOM study we’ve not yet seen. This will likely come out with an option for a public private partnership that would sell out (long term lease) residents’ land to a developer in exchange for infrastructure and recurring revenue - and residents could be exposed to this without the opportunity to vote for it. Certainly it’s worth understanding - but speaking as a resident, I have no interest in being sold out and would be happy to pay taxes to retain and protect my city.”

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Council Took No Action when Advised Our Hydrants are not Tested

2021: LA Fire Chief advises Council that the hydrants have not been tested for a decade and will not be tested anymore. LINK No action taken.

CalWaters’s hydrant statement LINK shows “flow” testing is not part of inspections, maintenance, or any scheduled or routine activities.

Pictured: hydrant that passed “inspection” - corner of Via Colorin and Via Picaposte.

PVE has hydrants 50+ years old.

Pipes damaged/clogged by roots is common in PVE

Why are we neglecting to give our Fire Fighters the critical tools they need to keep us safe?

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We need Cost Effective Safety Services

PVE is paying over $700,000 to trim a 20 feet perimeter of Parkland using expensive manually-intensive weed whacking.

The City should pursue effective alternatives…

Suggestions provided to Council: Use the County Agriculture Commission who will trim for far less than current contractor at only $1,200 an acre, we can use tractors, goats, ask RPV how they do it for a lower cost…

How are we going to balance the budget without efficiencies?

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Use Evacuation Simulations to Save Lives

Jan 7: Pacific Palisades: LINK

Palisades had less than an hour before evacuation routes became impassable. Many residents could not evacuate and fire fighters were unable to get in. PVE’s exits are even more limited.
Staff had thought Palisades Highlands residents needed 5 hours to evacuate. However, residents had less than one hour before routes became impassable.

PVE’s Safety Element evaluation LINK shows severely limited evacuation routes, particularly when shared with incoming first responders. Worse, most “exits” just take residents further into the Peninsula.

Many reasons will cause PVE residents to be unable to evacuate

There is a fire on PV Dr W
or, there are two fire trucks as pictured
or, there is gridlock

SOLUTION:

Old Dominion University, disaster planning software, called “Fleet”, analyzes roads, populations and traffic patterns to estimate the time needed to get people to safety in a racing wildfire. LINK

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What is Our Capacity to Fight a Fire?

Should we learn and evolve, instead of waiting, like Malibu, for it to happen again?

“The limitations of local water systems … where scores of fire hydrants were left with little or no water… in Altadena and Pasadena” LINK
“fire hydrant problems …. just hours after the Eaton (Altadena) fire erupted” LINK they ran out of water within hours !
“the Palisades fire dealt with hydrants that had little to no water flowing out. LINK another LINK
LA City sent tanker trucks to supply water for crews LINK. Does PVE have access to tanker trucks if hydrants run dry?
“hillier areas like the Palisades Highlands — where the storage tanks hold water that flows by gravity to communities below ran dry” LINK Just like PVE
“On top of that, we had a loss of power temporarily,” LINK
“ it would have been very expensive to develop additional storage adequate to mitigate or even fight the wildfires in these higher-elevation pressure zones, but right now I’d imagine most people in L.A. would say it would’ve been worth the cost.”
“these types of water problems have happened during previous fires in Malibu” Yet, no one acted upon it…

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BURGLARY CRIME SPREE in PVE

ALERT: PVE has had 10 Burglaries in five weeks since Jan 1st.

This is a 300% increase over last year’s trend LINK

LOCATIONS: (details) LINK

2023: The #1 priority of residents in the PVE Community Engagement Survey was a burglary abatement program LINK In the 2 years since, no action has been taken.

The community has reached out to PreservePVE seeking advocacy in support if increased communication and investigative support to address the rash of burglaries in Valmonte.

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What is the status of Councilmember McGowan’s PVE Foundation new license plate readers?

UNKNOWN

July 2024: CM McGowan’s Foundation emailed residents that they had received $400,000 in donations and installation will be completed by the end of 2024. Regardless, for undisclosed reasons, the Foundation solicited $150,000 more in donations.

The City has not disclosed the status in the City Update or responded to residents’ requests.

Is PVE still subject to Builder’s Remedy?

Yes

PVE delayed bidding out the zoning and CEQA work, causing a further delay in compliance that was due in 2021.

The City’s Feb 14 Update LINK states there will be a hearing in early summer. While not mentioned by the City, this hearing completes the rezoning required to be protected from Builder’s Remedy.

Has the Mayor, or any Council member, responded to resident questions and suggestions on safety LINK

No. This is disappointing.

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