WeHo Leads In Gun Laws Again

Governor Schwarzenegger signed the Crime Gun Identification Act introduced by Assembly member Mike Feuer (D-West Hollywood), earlier this week.

Governor Schwarzenegger signed the Crime Gun Identification Act this week.

The legislation requires that, beginning in 2010, each new model of semiautomatic handgun be microstamped with its make, model and identification number, which in turn will stamp the bullet cartridges generally left behind by shooters.

The law is the first of its kind in the nation, and safety advocates have signaled that other states would soon follow suit. Gun control has been an integral part of West Hollywood’s philosophy from the city’s inception.

In 1988, WeHo council member Paul Koretz introduced a ban on semi-automatic assault rifles. In January 1996, council members Abbe Land and Koretz introduced the first law in the nation that banned ‘Saturday Night Specials.’

As Assembly member, Paul Koretz (now seeking a city council seat in Los Angeles) introduced this very law in the final year of his term, but his efforts to pass it were stymied by the gun lobby.

Assembly member Mike Feuer (D-West Hollywood) authored the Crime Gun Identification Act.

Assembly member Feuer took up the law this year, his first in the Assembly, and pushed it through the State legislature, culminating in the Governor’s signature.

Law enforcement say that the microstamping act will give them an opportunity, long lacking, to use the information stamped onto shell casings to identify guns used in crimes and track down the perpetrators.

The Governor issued a signing statement that said, “While I appreciate and understand that this technology is not without limitations, I am signing this bill to provide law enforcement with an additional tool for solving crimes committed with semi-automatic handguns in California.

“Public safety is one of the most important roles of government and I encourage all stakeholders to work on improving this technology so that it may become an even more effective crime fighting tool.”

This photo shows the stamping on the gun that stamps any cartridge expelled from the weapon.

Assembly member Feuer, in remarks made at the signing that scores of law enforcement leaders throughout California, including the California Police Chiefs Association, had endorsed his bill.

“Today the Governor stands with public safety experts who believe this technology can make a major impact on gun violence,” Mr. Feuer said.

“Microstamping has the potential to revolutionize the investigation of shooting incidents involving handguns. This new law will put California at the forefront of forensic technology and could signal a catalytic change across the nation,” Feuer added.

According to the the Coalition to Preserve our Rights, a gun lobby, in a statement made to another news organization, “Thus far, the consensus, whether it’s done independently, or the research that was funded by the state of California, has shown it to be useless,” said Guy Smith.

this is a close-up of the microstamp.

He also pointed out that the microstamping can be filed away.

Mr. Feuer, though, asserted that any incremental step toward taking guns out of criminals hands and/or making arrests of perpetrators of violent crime was worthwhile.

“Homicide bureaus throughout our state have hundreds of unsolved cases where the only evidence left at the scene of the crime was expended bullet casings,” he said.

“If these casings had imprinted information on them identifying the gun from which they were fired,” he continued, “our investigators would have much better chance of solving heinous crimes.

“Microstamping will not only lead to putting more killers being behind bars,” he continued, “but also slow down the sale of illegal guns. Straw purchasers will be more hesitant to sell guns to criminals if they know these guns will be traced back to them.”

Assemblyman Mike Feuer represents the 42nd Assembly District, which includes much of Los Angeles, as well as Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, in which he keeps his district office.

Movietown Plaza Unveiled

Casden Properties unveiled new plans for a re-thought Movietown Plaza, the ten-story mixed-use project proposed for the land currently occupied by a shopping mall on the Eastside of West Hollywood at 7310 Santa Monica Blvd.

A bird’s eye view showing Movietown Plaza. Courtesy Casden Properties.

They presented architectural renderings and plans for review by the neighborhood and made representatives from the architect on down available to answer questions about the controversial 420,000 sq ft project.

Howard Katz of Casden Properties said in a statement that the firm had spent the last year revising its plans, including bringing a new architect on board, in an effort to return with a dramatic re-imagining of the schematic plan for Movietown Plaza.

The same presentation had already been made to the Eastside Project Area Committee (PAC) at its last meeting; the plans were considered to be a big improvement over the first set presented over a year ago.

Rob Bergstein, a member of the PAC, told WeHoNews at the neighborhood meeting the new plans were a pleasant improvement. “This is a huge step in the right direction after that concrete ten story gulag they presented last year,” he said.

Visitors talked with developers and one another in front of large placards depicting the proposed development at Movietown Plaza. Photo by Ryan Gierach.

Others at the presentation saw too much, they said. They complained of too much mass, too much traffic descending on their streets, too much gentrification and too many people moving in.

Barry Wendell, a neighbor living on Fuller off Fountain, decried the project as benefiting only the wealthy and not the neighborhood itself.

“If you were to list the top ten needs of this neighborhood, where on that list would ‘luxury high-rise condominiums?” he asked. “Redevelopment should improve the community, not drive the people in the community out of it because of increased traffic and prices.”

Mr. Katz emphasized that the neighborhood input received after last year’s iteration went to good use in mitigating the neighbor’s concerns about its size and potential influence on life on that side of town.

A view of the building from street level across Santa Monica Boulevard. Courtesy Casden Properties.

“This plan… features less density, lower-scale buildings along Santa Monica Boulevard with the taller elements shifted to the rear of the three-acre site, a new location at the front of the project for the affordable housing units for senior citizens, and increased and better organized open space,” he stated.

The new plans were developed by the award-winning architecture firm Van Tilburg, Banvard and Soderbergh with which Casden has previously worked.

Comments at the gathering from cautionary supporters of the project approved of the way the community’s input had been implemented.

“The two major improvements are the stepped back ten-story towers sitting behind seven stories instead of the single block tower,” Mr. Bergstein pointed out, “and moving the senior affordable housing to the street front so they can better access transportation and services.”

The public space in the front of Movietown Plaza along Santa Monica Boulevard. Courtesy Casden Properties.

As planned now, four floors of Senior Affordable Housing – 77 units averaging 650 sq ft – will top off the two retail spaces along Santa Monica Boulevard; in the last plan the senior units were along Poinsettia on the rear of the vast plot.

The retail space totals about 22,500 sq ft; Casden hopes to have Trader Joe’s return to take the 15,000 sq foot space. Behind those two buildings runs a service alleyway that some hope can be made into a pick up/drop off lane to serve the seniors living above.

Across the alleyway stand two ten-story structures of residential condominiums, including live/work spaces, surrounding a courtyard with a swimming pool and recreation facility.

Those two buildings will hold 297 condos, mainly one- and two-bedroom units, a handful of three-bedrooms, with an average size 1250 square feet. The project will add 374 units to West Hollywood’s housing stock.

A depiction of the paseo running from Fuller to Poinsettia. Courtesy Casden Properties.

In a concession to the neighborhood’s demands to reduce the massing of the previous plan, Van Tilburg, Banvard and Soderbergh reduced overall density by 100 units.

They also increased and better organized the courtyard open space, including the introduction of a paseo connecting Fuller and Poinsettia, while also improving the streetscape out front along Santa Monica Boulevard, in part by adding a double row of trees to the landscaping.

Finally, to salve entrance and egress issues, the new architects separated parking entrances by use, residential and commercial.

Mr. Katz also mentioned the revenue the project expects to generate for the city’s Eastside redevelopment agency.

“Since Movietown Plaza is located in the East Side Redevelopment Project Area, this development will generate $1.5 million annually for the redevelopment agency,” he said, “with $500,000 of that to be dedicated toward the creation of new housing.”