| Home | Our Purpose  | | Visitor's Info | Contact  Us | Membership Form | Sponsorships  | Links PO Box 513, Venice CA 90294 (please note our new address listed here, thank you) Welcome to the Marina Peninsula Neighborhood Association Website, A non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of our beaches and community. for GENERAL INFORMATION site last updated 1/28/09 at 9:00 PM OUR ANNUAL MPNA MEETING for 2010 is postponed as we have some developments taking place we want to share with you, Feb/Mar date will be announced. Download Membership Form here $30 yr (Tax Deductible) Email Membership enquiries   Please encourage your neighbors, home-owners, renters all benefit. Send form to above address and please include email address. Your Member ID Card gives you 10% discounts at participating restaurants, vendors in our neighborhood. $30 annual membership allows MPNA to actively represent your Interests and improve our quality of life on the Peninsula. "The Big Plant-In" Community Event Check it out, 10,000 Native Coastal Marsh Plants" on Grand Canal Lagoon ~ Ballona Wetlands New! MPNA endorses Bill Rosendhal for seat on Coastal Commision   MPNA is encouraging the city to act to regulate placement of cell towers. MPNA members caught T-Mobile installing a new pole on Pacific at Jib without a permit from the City or Coastal Commission, and in the Ballona Lagoon ESHA (Habitat)! MPNA and its' members worked with CLEAN to begin a lawsuit & this one is headed for the Supreme Court as the stakes are high, more details to come. The illegal pole stands. Read Now! Letter from MPNA public works cell tower meeting Nov 18th 2009   Local Police Support - MPNA is meeting with Pacific Division Captain Joe Hiltner to discuss the several problems affecting our community. These include people living in mobile homes on our streets, the wave of recent garage break-ins and violence/drunkeness on Washington that filters into our community..   Permit Parking on the Peninsula There is growing interest in permit parking on the Peninsula, particularly near Washington. We are working out plans for a workshop for affected residents so we can move this initiative ahead. Recent Coastal Commission rulings are restricting permit parking so we have our work cut out for us. Please contact Nate Cherry for more information. What MPNA does for you and the community: Monitor City & County actions Represent your interests/concerns Coordinate political actions Initiate legal action when necessary Organize social & business meetings with our members annually 2009 has been a busy year for MPNA, achieving positive results for our community Aerial view of the Marina Peninsula Quick Report 2009: We have had success on the vacant lots along the Canal. The city council are voting on it and it is in the process of transfering to the Recreation and Parks Department, as official public park space. The first one that has gone through is on the east side of the Canal on Driftwood. We now qualify for the Quimby funds that we have long sought after to bring back to the community and asking for an audit. We caught T-Mobile installing an illegal telephone pole and are successfully in the process of removing it. We have secured commitments from the Council office to begin repaving our streets. We are coordinating a community disaster preparedness plan to service the Peninsula Read on for more details SECURITY PATROLS ON THE PENINSULA . SECURITY ENROLLMENT FORM CLICK HERE Quarterly commitment Plan Condo associations $10 a unit per month Single family home $35 per month or $105 per quarter MPNA has filed a Freedom of Information Request on the City for Audit of VNSPF We are seeking to find out what the balances and expenditures are since the date of ordinance til now. Under a 1977 Ordinance any City owned properties sold within the Venice Area go into a special fund that is to be used solely for projects benefiting the Venice community (of which the Peninsula is a part). Much of the fund was derived from sales on the Peninsula. We discovered the City has, by its own admission, lost or misplaced the records confirming sales from the years 1977 to 1986. We are working with the Controller to insure a full and complete audit of sales which will help us determine what money is really in the account for local projects.   Review of QUIMBY FUNDS We are arranging a review with LA Recreation and Parks of QUIMBY funds collected in and around the Peninsula. Under a 1975 State Law Cities could impose special fees on developers of multi-family properties that would fund open space and park development in an area 2 miles around the "nexus" of where funds were collected. Rec's and Parks has claimed that due to accounting system changes in the 80's they cannot track all funds collected. We are trying to determine our QUIMBY balance so we can fund park space improvements on the new "canal park" that MPNA was instrumental in securing from the City.LA TIMES STREET REPAIRS After months of trying to get an answer for the street repair schedule, board member Mark Winter has been informed by the city that street repairs will begin on Strongs Drive beginning this fall 2009. Peter Wallerstein Support Marine Animal Rescue LEAST TERN RESERVE The least terns have experienced record numbers of fledglings over the past two years, due in no small part to the work of the L.A. Audubon Society volunteers. The presence and health of the birds in our area are a direct reflection of the state of our environment. LEAST TERN ARTICLE GRAND CANAL RESTORATION The Grand Canal restoration has been moving slowly due to financial challenges. Contributions of several million dollars from the Pier Pointe asessment district have been delayed due that project's bankruptcy. There is now a new owner and we are hopeful that funding will be forthcoming. A recent sale of a City lot on the Peninsula will add another $2.1 million to the VNSPF account that we may be able to tap. On the 19th October 2009, a clean-up of the Grand Canal occured in preparation for planting wetland plants that are ready to go into the banks of the Canal. BALLONA LAGOON RESTORATION Please join us each Sunday 9am-noon for help in planting native spcecies along the banks of the canals. MPNA was instrumental in negotiating a solution that broke the grid-lock between the City and Coastal Commission and secured a CCC permit for the City last March. This LA County funded restoration, matches the same planting on the west side of the Lagoon that is evident on the eastern banks. It also removes non-native species and creates a decomposed granite walk, fencing and interpretive signage. Undergrounding alive again- MPNA is asking DWP and LAUSD to underground power wires feeding a massive transformer that was installed on the Westside Magnet School. The rats-nest of high voltage wires is unsightly and unsafe (they hang over the school fence, if downed they could electrify the fence). We are also working to resusitate undegrounding around the Canal, Lagoon and Peninsula in that order and met with DWP officials to exchange views on this initiative. Councilman Herb Wesson (CD10) has introduced a motion to the City Council to initiate a broad program of wiring undergrounding in the City which MPNA applauds. GRAFFITI WALL RESTRICTIONS Permits are now required to paint on the Venice grafitti wall, as of June and only on weekends. Hopefully, we will see a decrease in collateral tagging all over Venice. Report any grafitti immediately. If your building have been tagged recently, please contact info@marinapeninsula.org Please take pictures of any graffiti and erase it immediately. E-mail us and we will forward the ".jpg" files to LAPD. Excessive damage from graffiti constitutes a felony. NEIGHBORHOOD RESOURCE GUIDE & HELPFUL PHONE NUMBERS FOR MARINA RESIDENTS Thank you to Officer Mark Pompano, Community Relations Officer, for a new and more current guide. Helpful Phone Numbers and Resource Guide Did you ever wonder what number you need to call to get rid of that bulky item in your alley? How about a street light that is out? What about dead animals? Try our list and see if it helps you. click here MARINA DEL REY VISITORS CENTER Play, Sail, Dine, Plan, Coastal Warmth, LA Cool, support your local businesses and be green, save money, have fun! .http://www.visitmarinadelrey.com PACIFICBEAT.NET Sign up and to receive daily crime reports in your area from the LAPD Pacific Division Pacific Beat IMPORTANT LAPD CONTACT NUMBERS FRONT DESK: 310-202-4501 NON-EMERGENCY: 877-ASK-LAPD AT ONCE ATTENTION: 310-451-LAPD (dispatch) EMERGENCY: 911 LAPD will call you back to verify the legitimacy of the call SENIOR LEAD OFFICER FOR OUR AREA: Robin Richards SUSPICIOUS TERRORIST ACTIVITY 1-877-ATHREAT GRAFFITI REMOVAL 310-204-2749 "WE ARE MDR" A complete guide to pending development in the County of Marina del Rey, and the tireless effort to monitor and discourage the dense high-rises. IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR MPNA MEMBERS Please e-mail your current e-mail address so you can receive regular updates. Many members have renewed their membership and we have no way of thanking them without mailing them individually. We want to keep you informed about the neighborhood. info@marinapeninsula.org Please join the MPNA - $30.00 for one year. Director - Diana Spielberger Director - Sandie West Director - Mark Winter Director - Nathan Cherry   Director - Adam Glick | Home  | Our Purpose | Visitor's  Info | Contact Us | Membership Form | Sponsorships  | Links | Copyright 2001-2009  MPNA

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