Portuguese Bend Community Association


Welcome to the Portuguese Bend Community Association

It's Time For Spring Cleaning! The annual PBCA community cleanup is slated for the weekend of May 9 and 10. There will be both green waste and regular waste trash containers provided at the following locations: Cul de Sac at Narcissa and Fruit Tree End of Narcissa beyond 88 Narcissa. Along Sweetbay adjacent to the Bean Field. The containers will be put in place on Thursday and will be removed on Monday. Please respect the need to separate green and regular waste streams. Volunteers will meet at 5 Corners (Narcissa/Cinnamon/Gingeroot) at 8.00 a.m. Saturday morning to coordinate the work effort. If you or your neighbor needs assistance with moving any items, please feel free to ask for help. There will be tractors and trailers available to carry items to the containers. If you have items such as refrigerators and large appliances, please contact UWS directly. This cleanup is for household and green waste only. Electronic or hazardous waste items are not allowed in these containers. The City of RPV is hosting a free annual HHW/E-Waste Roundup at RPV City Hall/City Yard, located at 30940 Hawthorne Blvd. in RPV on Saturday, May 9, 2009 from 9 am to 3 pm. For additional information, click on the following: http://www.palosverdes.com/rpv/publicworks/content/HHWE-RECYCLING-Jan2009.pdf It would be nice if individual property owners would be responsible for cleaning up their own frontages and assisting their neighbors who might not be able to do it themselves. RPV Planning Commission Returns York Application for Event Center Here is an update on the York Event Center from RPV City Planning. " City Staff determined that the application cannot be accepted and/or processed since the subject property is within a Residential zoning district, which does not permit or conditionally permit the use of such property for the use they were seeking. Therefore, the application has since been returned to the applicant, and there is no longer a request for use of the property for such activities." The Times, They are A-Changing The winds of change are blowing in Portuguese Bend. Developer Jim York, owner of multiple parcels of land in and around the Bend, has expressed interest in building a party facility on the former Pony Club site. Following a demonstration sound check at the site on January 31, PBCA Board Member Tim Kelly solicited feedback from homeowners about the project. We have edited the responses, out of consideration for privacy of the respondents, and have reproduced them here so you can see what your neighbors are saying about the proposed project. Other residents have contributed their comments on a blog, which remains open for comments. According to a note on the RPV listserv, posted February 26, Mr. York has submitted his application for a party facility to the city. The notification reads as follows: " City Staff became aware that Mr. York was meeting with members of the Portuguese Bend Community Association to discuss his plans for use of a portion of his Lower Filiorum property (the former site of the Pony Club) for private parties, and/or wedding receptions. As a result, Staff met with Mr. York to hear about his ideas. Staff raised concerns with his proposal’s consistency with the underlying residential zoning and potential impacts to the surrounding communities. Mr. York noted that he was still meeting with the Association on his ideas and that he would conduct a noise study of the music. As a result of his meetings with the Association and the noise study, Mr. York has submitted a conditional use permit application to use a portion of his property to conduct private parties, receptions, charity events and the like. Staff will be reviewing the application and related materials to determine whether this use is consistent with the applicable zoning regulations. Please note that this is to inform you that an application has been submitted. If and when the application is deemed complete and a public hearing is scheduled, offical notice will be provided. *Should you have questions regarding the status of the application, please contact Senior Planner Eduardo Schonborn at eduardos@rpv.com."* Additionally, the biggest possibility for change came to light at the February PBCA Homeowners meeting, when RPV Councilman Tom Long, who addressed the meeting, said that as a result of the recent California appellate court decision in the Monks vs. the city of Rancho Palos Verdes lawsuit, the city will be forced to issue building permits for construction in Zone 2 of the building moratorium area. This Daily Breeze article has details on the court decision. Subsequently, the city mailed residents a notice of a Proposed Mitigated Negative Declaration in preparation for a revision to the Zone 2 Landslide Moratorium ordinance. The city has scheduled a meeting to discuss this on Tuesday, March 3, 2009 at 7 p.m. at Hesse Park Community Building, 29301 Hawthorne Boulevard, RPV. The city website has additional information . Interested residents can sign up for a RPV-sponsored listserv on this topic. City staff released a 95-page staff report on this issue on February 26. The report will be presented at the March 3 meeting. You may download the report here. It’s still so quiet in Portuguese Bend that sometimes the only audible sounds are the screech of peacocks and whinny of horses clip-clopping along the winding, pepper-tree lined roads of this tiny, private community. The residents of the Bend, which is nestled in the hills of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, up behind Lloyd Wright's famous Wayfarer's Chapel, half way between Trump National Golf Club and the new Terranea Resort and adjacent to a portion of the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy, like it that way.. But these recent developments may bring a change. This website will attempt to keep residents updated on changes as they occur. Those who are interested should mark their calendars and plan to attend meetings of the PBCA board, which usually are held on the first Monday of the month at 7 p.m. at Ladera Linda Community Center. For a detailed history of Portuguese Bend, click here . Another version is here

Volunteers will meet at 5 Corners (Narcissa/Cinnamon/Gingeroot) at 8.00 a.m. Saturday morning to coordinate the work effort. If you or your neighbor needs assistance with moving any items, please feel free to ask for help. There will be tractors and trailers available to carry items to the containers.

If you have items such as refrigerators and large appliances, please contact UWS directly.

This cleanup is for household and green waste only. Electronic or hazardous waste items are not allowed in these containers. The City of RPV is hosting a free annual HHW/E-Waste Roundup at RPV City Hall/City Yard, located at 30940 Hawthorne Blvd. in RPV on Saturday, May 9, 2009 from 9 am to 3 pm. For additional information, click on the following: http://www.palosverdes.com/rpv/publicworks/content/HHWE-RECYCLING-Jan2009.pdf

It would be nice if individual property owners would be responsible for cleaning up their own frontages and assisting their neighbors who might not be able to do it themselves.

RPV Planning Commission Returns York Application for Event Center

Here is an update on the York Event Center from RPV City Planning.

" City Staff determined that the application cannot be accepted and/or processed since the subject property is within a Residential zoning district, which does not permit or conditionally permit the use of such property for the use they were seeking. Therefore, the application has since been returned to the applicant, and there is no longer a request for use of the property for such activities."

The Times, They are A-Changing

The winds of change are blowing in Portuguese Bend.

Developer Jim York, owner of multiple parcels of land in and around the Bend, has expressed interest in building a party facility on the former Pony Club site. Following a demonstration sound check at the site on January 31, PBCA Board Member Tim Kelly solicited feedback from homeowners about the project. We have edited the responses, out of consideration for privacy of the respondents, and have reproduced them here so you can see what your neighbors are saying about the proposed project. Other residents have contributed their comments on a blog, which remains open for comments. According to a note on the RPV listserv, posted February 26, Mr. York has submitted his application for a party facility to the city. The notification reads as follows:

" City Staff became aware that Mr. York was meeting with members of the Portuguese Bend Community Association to discuss his plans for use of a portion of his Lower Filiorum property (the former site of the Pony Club) for private parties, and/or wedding receptions. As a result, Staff met with Mr. York to hear about his ideas. Staff raised concerns with his proposal’s consistency with the underlying residential zoning and potential impacts to the surrounding communities. Mr. York noted that he was still meeting with the Association on his ideas and that he would conduct a noise study of the music.

As a result of his meetings with the Association and the noise study, Mr. York has submitted a conditional use permit application to use a portion of his property to conduct private parties, receptions, charity events and the like. Staff will be reviewing the application and related materials to determine whether this use is consistent with the applicable zoning regulations.

Please note that this is to inform you that an application has been submitted. If and when the application is deemed complete and a public hearing is scheduled, offical notice will be provided.

Should you have questions regarding the status of the application, please contact Senior Planner Eduardo Schonborn at eduardos@rpv.com."

Additionally, the biggest possibility for change came to light at the February PBCA Homeowners meeting, when RPV Councilman Tom Long, who addressed the meeting, said that as a result of the recent California appellate court decision in the Monks vs. the city of Rancho Palos Verdes lawsuit, the city will be forced to issue building permits for construction in Zone 2 of the building moratorium area. This Daily Breeze article has details on the court decision.

Subsequently, the city mailed residents a notice of a Proposed Mitigated Negative Declaration in preparation for a revision to the Zone 2 Landslide Moratorium ordinance. The city has scheduled a meeting to discuss this on Tuesday, March 3, 2009 at 7 p.m. at Hesse Park Community Building, 29301 Hawthorne Boulevard, RPV. The city website has additional information . Interested residents can sign up for a RPV-sponsored listserv on this topic.

City staff released a 95-page staff report on this issue on February 26. The report will be presented at the March 3 meeting. You may download the report here.

It’s still so quiet in Portuguese Bend that sometimes the only audible sounds are the screech of peacocks and whinny of horses clip-clopping along the winding, pepper-tree lined roads of this tiny, private community. The residents of the Bend, which is nestled in the hills of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, up behind Lloyd Wright's famous Wayfarer's Chapel, half way between Trump National Golf Club and the new Terranea Resort and adjacent to a portion of the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy, like it that way.. But these recent developments may bring a change.

This website will attempt to keep residents updated on changes as they occur. Those who are interested should mark their calendars and plan to attend meetings of the PBCA board, which usually are held on the first Monday of the month at 7 p.m. at Ladera Linda Community Center.

For a detailed history of Portuguese Bend, click here . Another version is here