Although you may have heard that community members have asked for an extension (by sending this email or similar) already, the advice from Dr. Tom, our retired city planning consultant and collaborator, is that we need to keep sending in the requests for an extension. One reason is that if enough of these requests flood in, they may eventually relent. The other reason has to do with volume, which serves two purposes: (1) we're generating a great volume of comments during the DEIR comment period, and these are part of those comments, and the more we send the greater evidence that the community is actively involved in this fight; (2) when the EIR process is complete (receives a Notice of Determination), the clock immediately starts ticking for any litigation (a shorter period of only 30 days) and the judge will view our case more favorably because extensions were requested but not granted, and the more such requests, the better, because it is then a greater volume of requests the city has chosen to deny.
Use the email shown below, replacing the
[RED TEXT AREAS] with your own information.
TO: planning.envreview@lacity.org
SUBJECT: ENV-2015-2354-EIR / 2015101077 / DEIR comments filing period extension
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- (body of email below) -
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To: Karen Hoo, Environmental Review Coordinator
Environmental Review Section
Department of City Planning
200 North Spring Street, Room 750
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Dear Ms. Hoo
I,
[FULL NAME], resident of Glassell Park, am writing to request that an extension of the filing period for comments on the DEIR be extended by 2 weeks to March 7th. The community has been active in gathering expert advice from lawyers and others to help prepare comments in response to the DEIR. We have conducted community meetings on several dates, including (but not limited to) January 28th & February 9th, with another planned for February 13th.
The original comment filing period of 60 days, which began on December 23rd, just 2 days before Christmas, included much time that was unavailable for the community to organize due to family holiday plans and other similar interferences. Presidents Day holiday will also interfere with ongoing review and comment coordination.
We have found many inconsistencies and lack of accurate citation and of linkage to review foundation documents. We are uncovering significant content we need to provide in our comments, but more time is needed for us as a community to adequately complete the process.
Sincerely,
[FULL NAME]
[ADDRESS]
[EMAIL]
When you send this email, you may receive this reply within a day or two:
The Department of City Planning has considered your request for an extension to the comment period for the Abode at Glassell Park project. In light of the fact that the normal comment period is 45 days and the City has provided a 61 day comment period for this project, we will not be extending the comment period beyond February 21, 2017. We do encourage you to send us any comments on the Draft EIR you have prepared.
But try not to be discouraged, because the value of having sent it cannot be measured strictly on this initial response, as explained above, for the many reasons sending in a volume of these requests helps our overall cause.