Sunset Island Beautification Continues

The Sunset Beach Association continues its efforts to beautify the triangular median at the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway. In the back row from left to right: Barbara Kohn, Robert Munakash, Mike Kirrene and John Staley. Front row: Stuart Muller, holding a copy of the group's logo, and Barbara Marinacci. Rich Schmitt/Staff Photographer

By Danielle Gillespie, Staff Writer
2011-07-28
About three years ago, Pacific Palisades residents Barbara Marinacci and Stuart Muller teamed up hoping to beautify the triangular median strip and the parkways at the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Sunset Boulevard.

To do this, they decided to form a nonprofit organization, Sunset Beach Association. The members include resident John Staley; Barbara Kohn, Pacific Palisades Residents Association (PPRA) president; Robert Munakash, the owner of the 76 station at that intersection; and Michael Kirrene, president of the homeowners association for the nearby Edgewater Towers.

The group received two grants in 2008 and 2009 totaling $1,950 from the Pacific Palisades Junior Women's Club to transform the concrete traffic median called Sunset Island into an oasis filled with native plants. Muller estimates that it will cost $20,000 to $30,000 to complete the project.

'Sunset Boulevard at PCH is one of only four entrances to Pacific Palisades, and is the major one, with at least 65,000 vehicles passing through the intersection daily, but its appearance is badly blighted,' the association wrote in its 2008 application to the Junior Women's Club.

The association has received support from former State Senator Sheila Kuehl, L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, PPRA, Castellammare Mesa Homeowners Association, Miramar Homeowners Association, Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce and the Pacific Palisades Community Council.

Resident Hannah Spitz, a sophomore at Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, is drawing the plot plan. She is the daughter of Jeffrey and Chris Spitz, a member of the Community Council. Muller is searching for a landscape architect to work on the project pro bono.

Palisadian Terri Bromberg will create a mural on the pavement that matches the canyon floor in subdued browns, greens and yellows. She collaborated with Muller on painting the Clearwater mural on the CVS Pharmacy building on Swarthmore Avenue.

Now, the group needs to receive the necessary approvals from the landscape section of the City of L.A.'s Bureau of Street Services and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans).

'Once we get the plan, things should start to move along more quickly and a real fundraising effort can begin,' Muller said. 'We are also exploring sponsorship.'

There are three Caltrans traffic-control signal boxes on the median, where companies or organizations could display posters advertising their products, services or events. Muller said the advertising would need to benefit the public and promote good causes like recycling.

'We will basically be getting rid of the graphics [street art, a form of graffiti] by putting up more appropriate material on those cabinets,' Muller said.

Muller would also like to display the Sunset Beach/Pacific Palisades logo, which Bromberg designed for the group.

The association hopes to start work soon: 'We are greatly concerned about the perpetual occupation of that median by vagrants' unsightly belongings for the past few months,' Marinacci said. The group is trying to arrange a meeting with the Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles about the issue.

Meanwhile, the association has 'accomplished some fix-up work, such as getting the overgrown pine trees in the Sunset parkway trimmed,' Marinacci said, noting they also installed large rocks in the PCH parkway to prevent drivers from crossing over it to travel between Vons' parking lot and the 76 station.

The group has plans to collaborate with Vons on landscaping the parkways. In addition, the association was influential in advocating for the driveway realignment of Vons as part of its recent remodel, 'which has eliminated a real hazard that existed for many years there, and required shoppers heading westward on Sunset who wanted to turn left into the Vons parking lot to violate the law as well as endanger their lives and other drivers,' Marinacci said.

Courtesy: Palisadian Post
http://www.palisadespost.com/news/content.php?id=6809

Pacific Palisades Junior Women's Club Grant Application

Date of Application:

12/12/08         

Legal Name of Organization (to which grant would be paid):

 Sunset Beach Association     

Address:

Box 1015

Pacific Palisades

California 90272

                 

Contact Person:      

Stuart Muller

Phone:

310.459.9700                                      Fax     

Is your organization an IRS 501(C)(3) not for profit?

____Yes  __x__No

If no, please explain why

The Sunset Beach Association filed for 501(c)(3) status in November 2008, but we have not received the assignment yet. Our efforts have received the support of CA State Senator Sheila Kuehl, Los Angeles County Supervisor Zeb Yaroslavsky, Pacific Palisades Residents Association, Castellammare Mesa Homeowners Association, Miramar Homeowner’s Association, Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce, and the Pacific Palisades Community Council. (Attachments 1-3, examples)

In your own words, please describe the organization’s purpose and how it benefits our community.

The Sunset Beach Association’s mission is to upgrade, beautify, and then maintain the appearance of the intersection of Sunset Blvd. and the Pacific Coast Highway. Historically, this coastal area was known as Sunset Beach, and we intend to reestablish and publicize this name, which is appropriate for the area where Sunset Blvd. ends at the beach. Our first focus of attention is the northeast quadrant, which has an ugly concrete traffic median and unattractive, badly neglected parkways along PCH and Sunset, on either side of the large Vons parking lot.  (Attachment 4)

Have you received money from the Pacific Palisades Junior Women’s Club in the past?

____Yes  __x__No

However, Sunset Beach Association President Stuart Muller applied for, received, administered, and supervised the work on two projects partially funded by PPJWC grants in past years. (See Attachment 15)

 

If yes, please describe how the money was used and provide photos if applicable. 

Grant Request ($)

$9,000  

Briefly explain the purpose of your grant request and how you will spend your funds if a grant is made.

This grant wiil be used for community beautification. Sunset Blvd. at PCH is one of only four entrances to Pacific Palisades, and it is the major one, with at least 65,000 vehicles passing through this intersection daily. But its appearance is badly blighted—especially in front of and on both sides of the nicely landscaped 76 station and convenience store at the northeast corner. (Attachment 5.)

The small, triangular-shaped concrete traffic median and pedestrian crosswalk are weed-choked and desolate, except for three large and stark traffic signal control boxes, with peeling metallic paint. (Attachments 6-9)

The lengthy parkways on either side of Vons Market’s large parking lot are also in dire need of attention. The one along PCH has totally unplanted dirt areas in the midst of the sidewalk, as well as bulky above-ground utility structures. (Attachments 10-12) The parkway on Sunset Blvd. has even more extensive dirt areas, which attract abundant litter (there’s a much-used Metro bus stop here). They feature only four ungainly and dense Canary Island pine trees, much in need of adroit pruning. (Attachments 13-14)

Since our initial focus is on enhancing the median, we will use the PPJWC grant to obtain permission from Caltrans, which controls it, to fix up it up in accordance with zoning regulations (an application fee of over $1200 is likely), develop a detailed design approach after initially contacting designers experienced in undertaking urban hardscaping projects, and engage a contractor’s services. We will concurrently solicit additional funding and volunteer assistance from numerous sources in order to undertake and complete the project, then provide for its maintenance. Note that our effort also involves promoting the name “Sunset Beach, Pacific Palisades” for this area, which will be made visually prominent by placing an attractive monument sign on the renovated median. We are already communicating with Vons management and several property owners about our goal of making much needed improvements to the parkways mentioned above.

The Sunset Beach Association board includes residents, business people, and property owners. And, although we are a new organization, our board has decades of combined experience in leadership roles with Pacific Palisades non-profit groups and working with L.A. City, L.A. County and California State agencies on community betterment issues.

  Please return this application by December 14, 2008 to:

  Pacific Palisades Junior Women’s Club

  P.O. Box 1224 

  Pacific Palisades, CA  90272

  Attn: Luisa Romoff                            (310-459-6715)

Letter from State Senator Sheila Kuehl supporting
Sunset Beach Association grant application

Letter from Los Angeles County Assemblymember
Zev Yaroslavsky supporting Sunset Beach Association
grant application

Letter from Pacific Palisades Residents Association
supporting Sunset Beach Association
grant request

Sunset Beach area location map

Intersection of Sunset Blvd. and PCH

Median in PCH / Sunset Intersection

Median Crosswalk

Median Crosswalk

Traffic Control Boxes

Von's PCH Parkway looking west

Von's PCH Parkway looking west

Von's PCH Parkway looking east

Von's Sunset Blvd. Parkway looking north

 

 

Von's Sunset Blvd. Parkway looking south

 

1. A 2001 PPJWC Grant to the Pali Community Center Committee helped fund the complete remodel of the four restrooms in the Old Gym (the Community Center Building) at  the Palisades Recreation Center.

Built in 1954, heavily used and marginally maintained, these restrooms were just plain "worn out." The floors and walls were stained, and the fixtures were a mismatch of types, installed in illogical locations. Plywood stall doors, dreary lighting, holes in the ceiling, peeling paint, created an ambiance we wouldn't want in any restroom, but especially not in a facility serving the infants, toddlers and their nurturers who use the adjacent playground/sandpit area. The project was straightforward: take out all the fixtures; restore and seal the terrazzo floors; patch and paint the walls, ceilings and doors/ install all new lighting and fixtures. The project was completed in 2002, on time and on budget.

2. 1999 and 2004 PPJWC Grants to Palisades P.R.I.D.E., Inc. helped fund the creation and maintenance of the Clearwater Mural of the Palisades, which faces the Village Green.

This project converted an area of great urban blight into an attractive community asset: an inviting open space filled with color, history and charm. Phase 1 of this effort, completed in 1999, created a panoramic view of the Santa Monica Bay, as it might have appeared during ranchero times, as seen from the point of view of our Village Green. In Phase 2, completed in 2004, mechanical devises and signs were installed to prevent damage to the mural from skateboarders and trash dumpsters. Existing damage was repaired, and the mural extended to the adjacent wall to show the end of Santa Monica Bay, the Reyes Adobe (the first permanent dwelling in Pacific Palisades), the Santa Monica Canyon and beyond. A trash dumpster and adjacent stub wall were painted to match the existing painted rock formations. An anti-graffiti coating was applied to all painted areas. A donor plaque was installed and a dedication event held. The project was completed on time and on budget.