Over the past several months, residents of Larchmont Village have been waging a campaign to stop the demolition of a 1920s bungalow at 507 N. Larchmont Blvd and the fast-track approval of a seven-story affordable housing project proposed by the owners of the parcel using the Mayor’s ED1 Directive. Tonight they are asking residents to attend the GWNC Land Use Committee’s meeting on Zoom and urge the committee not to support the project. Last week, we reported the GWNC Board agreed to ask the Department of City Planning to suspend any approvals planned for the property for 120 days.
According to residents, troubles with the property go back months when the owners Shawn Ebrahimian and Sean Tabibian failed to secure the building allowing squatters to live in the house. Residents at the Larchmoyne at 515 N. Larchmont Blvd contacted the LAPD complaining about one man who was peeking into their building and harassing tenants. Nearby neighbors reported numerous break-ins and aggressive behavior from the same man. Several weeks ago, we reported neighbors organized an effort to have the person arrested following another break-in at a residence in the 400 hundred block of Arden Blvd.
The residents, called Larchmont United (LU) neighbors, the largest group of neighbors from all parts of Larchmont, continue to fight 507 N. Larchmont.
“LU supports affordable housing and the intent of the mayor’s ED1 initiative.” wrote organizer Sam Uretsky. “But, LU stresses the need for affordable housing development in Larchmont must solve for two problems: (1) adding affordable housing units and (2) preserving the scale and livability of our low to medium-density neighborhood.”
According to Uretsky, neighbors want to preserve Larchmont’s unique characteristics that make it a true family-friendly, diverse, walkable neighborhood highly cherished by residents who moved here because of the character of the neighborhood.
“Many younger neighbors beginning and raising families moved to Larchmont for its relative affordability, and the ability to live, work, shop, dine, play, and socialize in a unique part of the fabric of Los Angeles neighborhoods,” said Uretsky. “Older neighbors understand that Larchmont if sensibly developed, will allow them to age in place.”
The residents worry that approval of the seven-story building will destroy the scale of Larchmont. Instead, they are advocating for a height limit of four stories that would include neighborhood serving ground floor commercial space and provisions for residents’ parking.
“The one-size-fits-all mandates (madness?) from the state and city to up-zone and destroy stable neighborhoods deeply concerning, and if applied to Larchmont Blvd. destructive to our stable neighborhood,” said Uretsky who is baffled by why planner and elected officials and planners would destroy a cherished neighborhood by imposing these rules on the three blocks of Larchmont Blvd., from Beverly to Melrose. “The length of this stretch of Larchmont is approximately 1/2-mile. In a city of 7,500 miles of circulation, Upper Larchmont represents 0.00666%. Where’s the reasonable trade-off here? Why is it necessary to destroy our neighborhood?”
Uretsky and his neighbors worry that if approved, 507 N. Larchmont will set a precedent for the future development of the neighborhood.
“78-foot buildings block light and air,” said Uretesky. He worries that all the parcels on Lucerne and Gower abutting Larchmont Blvd will drop in value. “507 N. Larchmont represents a wealth transfer from hard-working neighbors seeking a family-friendly neighborhood to raise their kids or live their lives to developers who have less than no regard for what they are destroying.”
They are also worried about the lack of parking for the building.
“No one believes that the occupants of 52 (or 65 once the ADU conversions are built out) units will not have cars,” said Uretsky.
And, they are not alone. LAist reported this week that neighborhoods all over the city are worried about developers taking advantage of bans on parking requirements and proposing parking-free buildings.
“A recent analysis from real estate data firm ATC Research found that 73% of projects being proposed through L.A. Mayor Karen Bass’s affordable housing fast-tracking program ED1 feature no on-site parking,” reported LAist.com
“Where will these vehicles go? The unfortunate answer is they will be parked on the neighboring streets, given permits by the City to do so,” said Uretsky. “Our neighborhood has worked hard to establish parking districts that provide for the neighborhood’s safety, security and mitigation of street noise. Again, the developer gets a windfall. The community bears the cost.”
Rallying neighbors with the cry — “THIS IS NOT OKAY‼️,” Uretsky hopes to get a huge turnout at tonight’s meeting to send a message to the GWNC, the developers and city officials that Larchmont is worth fighting over.
Residents can click here to join the Larchmont United mailing list for updates and here to join the GWNC Land Use Committee meeting tonight at 6:30 p.m.
Well attended meeting last night, nearly 100 of concerned neighbors were there and many asked questions or voiced their thoughts on the design, the over height limit (7 storys) and there’s no parking provided for renters. Parking is already at a premium on our Blvd.
Great the developer took the time to meet with us and kinda sorta explain his project in it might be this or it could be that terms. And then he let us know that if we didn’t like the project he could build a (bridge?) shelter for the homeless. Owner said they’d be going back to their architect to consider making changes after meeting with us. Lots of thoughtful advice and suggestions from neighbors like Sarita and others.
It’s going to be affordable housing (which everyone welcomes) with the monthly rental pricing to be in the $1700 per month range but the units are only 350sq feet, considered to be micro units, I thought my 1 bedroom was small at 500sq ft.