NCWP Stakeholders,

In 2023 the Neighborhood Council Westchester / Playa tackled significant land use issues and partnering with you, made great progress.

Most notably we all focused on the potential impacts of proposed Community Plan changes which would have significantly decreased our quality of life. Through careful analysis of various options, neighbors speaking up at community meetings and a boots-on-the-ground drive through the community with City Planning, the planners were able to understand how their proposals affected us being a neighbor of the airport. At the end of our drive with City Planning, they commented how helpful the drive was to see the issues first hand. Our goal is to stop upzoning in R1 single family home areas and to be strategic as to where the upzoning makes sense. Your involvement was and continues to be critical to our success in communicating our needs to City Planning and our City Council Office.

Also important was our effort to invite the community to collaborate on the design for Lulu’s Place. While NCWP did not take an official position, members of NCWP and the community provided input to Lulu’s Place which resulted in them coming back several times having worked to address concerns.

We also continued to advocate for working with our surrounding communities and Neighborhood Councils on issues that cross boundaries such as LAX parcels being used for homeless housing and nearby Bridge Homes, in order to create a united front with respect to responding to city proposals that would deeply impact our community.

We made the following grants to benefit our community:

  • LA Neighborhood Land Trust to open the school grounds on the weekends to the community at Open Magnet Charter
  • Pacifica Area Boosters for their 50th Anniversary Celebration
  • Ballona Discovery Park Interpretive Panels
  • Airport Marina Counseling Service
  • SOFESA Homeless Services
  • Friends of the Jungle Clean Up

In 2024 we are considering how to strategically and proactively continue our partnership with City Planning so that they understand our concerns before developers arrive at their doors. Most importantly we are focused on partnering with you, our stakeholders, for our community.

“I would like to build on our community engagement success with the Community Plan Update and take that energy into public safety growing our Neighborhood Watch groups. And we must always remain vigilant about each proposed development and directing how we want it to integrate into our neighborhood,” shares Paula Gerez, NCWP President.

Thank you to our stakeholders, committee members and board members for your involvement, dedication and commitment to serving and protecting our community. We have greater success when we work collectively. If you are excited about the possibilities, but haven’t joined us yet, we have open board seats and committee member opportunities. Reach out and share your interest at paula.ncwpdr@gmail.com.

For Westchester / Playa,

Paula Gerez

NCWP President