In 2015 the Winnetka Neighborhood Council completed community beautification projects, supported a number of great community events to reach our stakeholders, tackled land use issues, and voiced our opinion to the City on topics of concern to the community.

The largest project we worked on this year was using $50,000 of Zine Funds allocated to Winnetka. Board Members worked with the City’s Urban Forestry Division and Street Maintenance Division to identify trees to be trimmed on the east side of Winnetka between Parthenia and the LA River and on the west side between Nordhoff and Victory. The second part of that project was to dispatch pothole trucks to the following areas: east side of Winnetka between the LA River and Parthenia, west side of Winnetka between Victory and Nordhoff, Saticoy between Corbin and De Soto, Vanowen between Corbin and De Soto. The Winnetka Neighborhood Council was excited to bring these great improvements to our community.

WNC Events in 2015:

  • Sponsored Blumenfield Bike Ride in January
  • Winnetka Neighborhood Council car entry in Memorial Day Parade and event booth
  • Hosted Blood Drive July
  • Table at Valley Disaster Prep Fair October
  • Sponsored Halloween Festival at the Winnetka Recreation Center

Land Use is a hot topic in Winnetka which has a few large open spaces attracting developer interest for infill projects. The Land Use Committee carefully reviewed each project and made a recommendation to the Board. The Board took the following actions:

  • Supported the Ashton development at 20600 Roscoe with several requests. Construction of 77 units in progress with a planned completion of late 2016.
  • The WNC was actively involved in 2014 providing input to plans for the Williams Homes construction site at 8544-8654 Winnetka. Construction began on Williams Homes in 2015 and we have heard and worked to address resident concerns about construction.
  • The Planning and Land Use Committee continues to discuss options for the Pit at Sherman Way and Mason.
  • The Council continues to hear concerns and investigate solutions for the vacant property on the west side of Winnetka, north of Vanowen.

One of the ways the Winnetka Neighborhood Council uses to make government more responsive to our needs is to take positions, write letters and submit Community Impact Statements (CIS) which become part of the legislative record on motions the City Council is considering. Our actions in 2015 include:

  • CIS to support Councilmember Blumenfield’s motion regulating parking of vehicles for private sale on certain city streets in Winnetka
  • CIS advocating use of grey water and requiring grey water systems in new construction
  • CIS advocating more trees, less hardscape to reduce urban heat
  • CIS requesting that the DWP discontinue estimated billing
  • CIS supporting management of trees
  • CIS supporting assistance for homeless pet owners
  • Letter to request Sunday bus service for Winnetka
  • Letter supporting bike lanes on Winnetka between Vanowen and Ventura

Other concerns the Council is still addressing include the competing challenges of bike lanes and parking on Winnetka and homeless encampments at Winnetka Park.

Our Outreach and Social Media Committee hosted a Public Lecture Series to engage new stakeholders. Topics included Health and Fitness, Drought Tolerant Landscaping and Disaster Preparedness.

Our committees continue to be where the work gets done and we invite you to join us!  We meet as shown below. Check our calendar for the specifics.

  • PLUM, 3rd Tuesday
  • Public Safety, 3rd Thursday
  • Public Works & Transportation, 4th Monday
  • Outreach and Social Media, 4th Tuesday

We had two new members join the Board this year: Carlos Perez, Craig Ruggless and will be holding elections on April 17 for half the board seats.