TERA, or at least a dedicated and representative portion of the membership, will be marching in the Veteran’s Day Parade this Saturday, November 11th. Be sure to show your support for our loyal marchers by attending the parade and honoring our veterans. TERA marchers will be proudly showing the colors, waving Eagle Rock’s own flag, as they march along Eagle Rock Boulevard from York Boulevard to Merton. The flags they will be carrying are available for purchase from TERA. The large flags are 3’ x 5’ and cost $55, including the pole. Without the pole, the flag is still $55 so you might as well take the pole. The small flag is $6 and comes with the pole already attached. It is approximately 4” x 6”. All of the proceeds from the sale of the flags go exclusively for the maintenance, repair and replacement of the large flag flying on the north side of the junction of the 134 and 2 Freeways. If you are interested in purchasing a flag, please send me an e-letter to the TERA e-letter and will arrange to get you a flag or flags. The flags are made possible by the Eagle Rock Chamber of Commerce, ERCPR and TERA.

So in addition to some serious flag waving on Veteran’s Day, the pilot parking program, allowing for the purchase of parking credits by businesses along a portion of Colorado Boulevard, received approval by the full City Council on Wednesday, October 8, 2006. The ordinance will be transmitted to the Mayor for signature and will become effective 30 days after it is published. In the meantime, the guidelines for the actual implementation of the parking program will be presented to the City Planning Commission for approval within the next couple of weeks and should be in place by the time the ordinance becomes effective. Our thanks to Councilmember Huizar and his staff for staying on top of this issue and keeping it on track. And thanks to Linda Allen of ERCPR and ERCPR’s consultant, Mott Smith, for all of their hard work in pushing this through. It’s ground breaking legislation that will help preserve Eagle Rock’s historic commercial buildings and will facilitate the location of the types of businesses necessary to continue the revitalization of Eagle Rock’s business district. It was TERA’s honor to work with the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council, the Eagle Rock Chamber of Commerce, the Eagle Rock Valley Historical Society, as well as ERCPR and the Council Office in successfully implementing this legislation.

Councilmember Huizar sent out the following information about the parking program:

Los Angeles Council members unanimously approved the passage of the Colorado Boulevard Specific Plan to create a pilot parking program to improve commercial area parking in Eagle Rock. This pilot parking program will incentivize small business owners to successfully operate in the community of Eagle Rock.

“This pilot project will help protect and enhance the pedestrian character of commercial streets on Colorado Blvd. as well as the character of the adjacent residential neighborhoods in Eagle Rock,” said Councilmember Huizar. “In addition, this plan incorporates key elements such as flexibility and innovation on the part of the City that will ultimately foster and encourage the economic revitalization effort in this area.”

This parking ordinance emulates the pilot program the City of Pasadena implemented to revitalize its Old Town Area along Colorado Boulevard.

“This was a successful community planning process where all stakeholders, including residents and business owners worked together to guarantee that a parking issue along this busy corridor will not constrain economic development,” continued Huizar. “I am very proud to be a part of this process and would like to acknowledge the Eagle Rock Community Preservation and Revitalization Corporation (ER CPR), The Eagle Rock Association (TERA) and the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council for their diligence in this matter.”

The City Planning Department will report to Council in six months on the status and success of the Community Parking Pilot Program.