2ND UPDATE: Neighbors Angry About Hudson Block Party

Editor's note: This story has been updated to include a response from the city's Code Compliance Manager Jeff Aubel as well as comments made by Councilmembers at Monday night's City Council meeting. Those updates are at the end of this story.

The may have brought out thousands of Angelinos for the chance to eat, drink and catch over a dozen bands.

It’s also brought out the ire of neighbors living around Santa Monica Boulevard and Crescent Heights Boulevard where the event happened. They are angry about the impact the Hudson Block Party had on their lives. They cite noise, parking shortages and traffic concerns as well as the lack of advance notice they got from the Hudson and the city about the event.

Below is a notice sent out to neighbors on Sunday night about the problems this event caused:

HUDSON BLOCK PARTYNIGHTMARE!!!

ARE YOU AS ANGRY & DISGUSTED AS WE ARE THAT WEST HOLLYWOOD CITY HALL APPROVED THIS EVENT????

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● CALL WEHO CITY HALL!!     

● EMAIL THE WEHO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS!!  www.weho.org

 ● CALL AND EMAIL THE 2 OWNERS OF THE HUDSON!!!  323-654-6686

       beau@thehudsonla.com    mike@the-churchill.com

● ATTEND A NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING ON THURS. MAY 24th at 6:30pm at 1217 N. Laurel Ave

_________________________________________________________________________________

OUR NEIGHBORHOOD IS NOT AN EVENT VENUE – .  How dare you, Hudson and the City of West Hollywood, be so inconsiderate and disrespectful of your neighbors!! If you want to have another Music Festival, move it to The Hollywood Palladium or venues that have space/parking for 8,000 attendees!!

NO NEIGHBORHOOD INVOLVMENT - The City of West Hollywood nor The Hudson gave our neighborhood any notice of this event nor did they ask for our participation/patience. The first we heard about this event was through an email from Jeff Prang late in the day on Thursday and City Hall was closed Friday. The LA Times wrote an article that truly alarmed us on Friday. By the way, this event was held August 13th last year and they extended the event by 2 hours this year.

NO PARKING – There’s already an incredible lack of parking in our neighborhood and the City of West Hollywood nor The Hudson had any parking plan for the 8,000 people attending this event. The City has ignored our desire for a parking structure between Crescent Heights and Fairfax to handle the MANY businesses without their own designated parking, all the while approving an unneeded 16 MILLION DOLLAR Automatic Garage behind City Hall. The Laurel Hardware restaurant will open soon with virtually no parking! This was a MAJOR impact on our neighborhood!!!

NOISE – The Main Stage was positioned at the back of the Bank Parking Lot and the sound barreled down Laurel Ave and all around the neighborhood, North/South and East/West. The City didn’t have anyone on hand to monitor the decibel levels so the music got louder and louder as they day wore on.

BLOCKED LANE & TRAFFIC FLOW – For set-up and strike, one lane of Santa Monica Blvd was completely blocked with trucks loading in/out, but the City didn’t post any signage for a lane closure and Westbound traffic was backed up for more than 2 miles most of the day.  

EVENT SET-UP & STRIKE – Our neighborhood was woken up extremely early by the sounds of tent pipes hitting the ground and other equipment being delivered. Likewise, the strike went well into the night. The total impact on the neighborhood was 20 long and exhausting hours!!!

THIS WAS NOT A COMMUNITY EVENT – The Hudson is a business that hugely PROFITED from this event (money and PR) and although some of the proceeds will benefit SOVA Food Bank, we are very curious to know how much The Hudson donates and will also follow-up with the Social Service Dept/Police Commission.

HOW MUCH OF CITY REVENUE WAS SPENT TO PROMOTE THIS FOR-PROFIT BUSINESS???

WE ARE SICK OF CITY HALL TAKING THE CENTER CITY AREA FOR GRANTED – Let them know that this event cannot be held again and keep the pressure up to treat us like they treat the West End!!!

Do You Think Our Council Members Would Approve An 8,000 Person Event On The Street Where THEY Live??????

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UPDATE: Code Compliance Manager Jeff Aubel reported to Weho Patch that the Hudson Block Party was approved as a special event by the city. Part of that approval process included sending out mailings notifying residents living within a 500-foot radius of the event. Aubel said that Hudson owner Beau Laughlin assured him the mailings had been done.

Aubel also said that a dozen sheriff’s deputies were on hand at the block party, paid for by the Hudson. There was also a code compliance officer on the premises.

City Hall received many complaints from residents about the block party this morning. City officials are responding to each complaint individually, he said.

Aubel assured that if the Hudson wants to do another block party next year, it will be more carefully scrutinized before receiving approval. “We’ll keep an eye on them,” he said.

Weho Patch has also contacted officials at the Hudson for comment. So far, no response has been received.

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2nd UPDATE: During Monday’s City Council meeting, Councilmember John Heilman reported that the Hudson was required to send out notices to residents about the party. He asked City Manager Paul Arevalo to look into the notification process. Heilman also suggested that in the future, the city could handle the mailings and have the business pay for it.

Mayor Jeff Prang, who attended the block party on Sunday, said it seemed to have shifted to more of a concert than the classic block party. Prang said it the Hudson Block Party were to continue, it would have to be reworked.