Let's get right to it. You asked and your neighbors answered. Thanks to all who participated. If you have questions, large or small, please email them to us at la@curbed.com and we'll post them next week.
1) Atwater Village: The colorful building at the corner of Glendale Blvd. and Glenhurst Avenue, is getting a facelift and new tenants. A tipster sends us a link: "I did a Google Search on the Atwater Ranch Market site mentioned in your reader's question and found conceptual drawings of the renovation that is planned there. Seems like it will be for two tenants including new retail (don't know how recent it all is)." The renderings (see above) show a bank and cafe/coffee shop occupying the new space. No Trader Joe's for you.
2) Silver Lake Adjacent: The question of the school at the three-way intersection of Temple, Beverly, and Virgil has a lengthy but simple answer. Thank you to the informed reader who submitted this. Our children is learning. "First of all, it's NOT public school---it's a charter high school to be operated by Camino Nuevo, based in the Westlake/MacArthur Pk area. They currently have an elementary and middle school, both of which are noted for their outstanding programs and service to low income communities of color in the inner city, as well as cutting edge architecture (the elementary did an amazing job recycling a mini-mall). I expect no less from the HS when it's completed---frankly it may not be entirely my cup of tea architecturally, but it will be quality.
As for the location, granted it's not ideal, but do you realize how hard it is to find a 2-acre site under single ownership that is available for sale, not contaminated and buildable in the central part of LA? Very hard---just ask Anita Landecker at ExEd, a Santa Monica-based non-profit that helps charter schools find sites to buy and build upon. I'm sure they will do the best they can to mitigate the problems, but there is just not that much available land in the inner city without trying to do assemblages from separate owners, which can take years without eminent domain."
3) Los Angeles: So, what are the effected parcels effected by the Oak Tree Ordinance? A reader says: "An 'effected parcel' is a parcel that contains any of the four 'protected' tree species with a diameter/caliper of four inches or larger by measuring the 'cumulative diameter'. The 'old' Ordinance exempted parcels under one acre in size. (i.e. the 'minimal lot size provision'). Under the 'revised' ordinance this exemption will no longer exist."