Dear neighbors, many of you have received a mailer from Engage WeHo regarding a Zone Text Amendment to modify a zoning ordinance to EXPAND hotel rooftop amenities.
This is of great concern as it specifically lists examples of events, pickleball, bars, etc. It could also allow for an additional floor/height. As you all know, noise has become problematic for our neighborhood. Cities everywhere are having issues with the loud and constant pop sound of pickleball. This will amplify on a roofdeck.
We are against any modification to the ordinance as it was originally put in place to protect neighborhoods, residents and homeowners. Hotel guests and visitors should not benefit at the expense of our quality of life!
Mitigations have not worked in the past and code compliance is overwhelmed.
While this flyer was sent to those of us within 500ft of a hotel, there is always something in development which could directly affect you. Once the problem exists, it’s difficult to keep it under control. That’s why it’s time to act now before they allow it.
Please visit https://engage.weho.org/hotelrooftops
Zone Text Amendment – Expansion of Hotel Rooftop Amenities
engage.weho.org
Or write in directly to :
Have questions or want to learn more about the project, contact us below:
Name
Jerry Hittleman
Phone
(805)464-7574
Email
The noise from the Edition’s rooftop shakes the whole neighborhood sometimes and they never do anything about it.
Perhaps the most equitable response would be to count the roof tops with amenities as commercial square footage and allow them to be added to the property tax by the County Assessor.
So something studied to see if it might help hotels during the pandemic morphs into a specific proposal even though the pandemic is over. Who are these people? They are obviously not current hotel owners or they would have simply proposed changes for their hotels, not some general policy. Of course, if this passes for hotels, it will eventually be impossible to prevent rooftop activities on any building, not just hotels.
NO the COVID-19 Pandemic ☣ is by no means over ❗ The SARS-CoV-2 Virus has NOT been eradicated in the human population or really brought under control. YES Vaccination 💉 and nonpharmaceutical disease containment like masking 😷 & social distancing, considerably reduced COVID-19 transmission; infection and; fatalities. Deep rooted antivaxx misinformation which is finding its way into public policy can easily reverse all progress as we have seen with other diseases that were nearly eradicated but, now reemerging as a lethal pandemic☣ threat.
How is it that these buildings that go before planning with no roof top “amenities” are passed and built and then magically add tents, and structures and people … Were any of these pre designed to carry the load required of a roof top space. I know in my past personally building experience that load requirement on a home deck can be 2-3 that of an interior second story .. Who is going to be responsible when one is overloaded and fails ..
Jerry, thanks for calling this out. Like the builders exemption, residents need to be informed, alert and take action.
I wish the city was as concerned with residents quality of life as they are of those that are merely passing through this city on short stays. Code Compliance already has their hands full in trying to handle all the quality of life issues that residents have and the city wants to add to that challenge?! Noise travels. Mitigation efforts often fall short. We all know what happens when things like this get passed…there are problems…neighbors complain…Code enforcement says they’re working with the businesses and the problems persist. Residents don’t need more headaches.
Expansion of hotel rooftop amenities; the placement of a homeless shelter in the heart of our business district; cutting the Sherrif’s budget….It appears the City of West Hollywood Council is hell-bent on implementing policies that directly conflict with the desires of its citizenry. This pattern of decision-making reveals a lack of accountability on the part of our elected city council to represent the interests of the residents of our city rather than those of developers, unions, and tourists. Unfortunately, this situation will persist if we maintain our current at-large system of electing members to the city council. Every election… Read more »
100% true.
The camel’s nose is in the tent and it portends the future, We now living in our “:urban village” are the pivot residents as possibly unstoppable forces surround us. How much history to hang on to; howe much “progress” to accept. Ix it really a dilemma?
Residents must demand that the bureaucracy consider all actions through the prism of what is in the best interests of the quality of life of residents of West Hollywood. Through that prism, this proposal is clearly an unacceptable intrusion into the quality of life of entire neighborhoods and must be rejected.
Absolutely.
When businesses have an opportunity to expand activities resulting in increased profits “the best interests of the quality of life of the residents” has never mattered, and is often treated as an obstacle for them to overcome. Just ask numerous indigenous people all over the world.🌎
Let’s counter expanded hotel rooftop amenities by expanding residential rooftop amenities ❗ For some strange reason we are not allowed on the rooftop where I live but, I’ve covertly found a great deal of unused fun space on my rooftop well beyond my original voyeuristic 🔭 interests. Answering noisy neighbors with a bullhorn 📢 has a dramatic effect and, adding spotlights or laser pointers makes you impossible to ignore. Rooftops are great launchpads for drones 🛩 & fireworks 🎆 , if you’re really mad a trebuchet can launch your garbage at them.😎
It is liability insurance. The owner or HOA of your building does not want to pay what can be astronomically high rates. Hotels don’t mind as rooftop buildouts add value and have large revenue generating potential.
Yes, especially with me living there❗