At this month’s meeting of the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council’s Land Use Committee, held last night via Zoom, there were several discussions about local and state housing policies, as well as a vote on an application for a Conditional Use Permit at the new Leopardo restaurant, in the old La Brea Bakery space on La Brea Ave.
Public Comments
Before the voting items came up last night, however, there were a couple of noteworthy discussions during the Public Comment period near the beginning of the meeting.
The first of these was brought up by GWNC board member Gary Gilbert. Gilbert is not a member of the Land Use Committee, but said he thought it was important to explain to Committee members why he did not vote with the majority of the Board at its June 12 meeting to accept the Land Use Committee’s recommendation to oppose a Conditional Use Permit application for the new Pawn Shop sports bar/restaurant at Melrose and Cahuenga. (The motion to oppose the project did pass without Gilbert’s vote.)
Gilbert said that he agrees parking and security, both named in the LUC/board resolution, are valid reasons to oppose this particular application, but he disagreed with many other items on the Committee’s long list of objections, also named in the motion, including proximity to a nearby church and preschool, and the fact that the applicant declined the LUC’s invitation to return to a committee meeting for further discussion of these and other issues.
Gilbert said he was particularly concerned that while staff of the nearby preschool had weighed in on neighborhood discussions of the project, he had not seen any input from the church. So he said he called there and heard no opposition (and even some level of support) from the organization.
But several Committee members challenged Gilbert’s take last night, saying each of the issues in the board motion were raised by neighbors during the months the project has been under discussion in various GWNC meetings. They also said that, as volunteers, members of the GWNC do not have time to do extensive individual research, so they must generally rely on information presented at their meetings. But the even bigger factor for them, said several, was the applicant’s refusal to participate in further discussion when invited.
Because the Pawn Shop permit has already been voted on, however, there were no further votes or other actions taken at this meeting.
Also during Public Comments last night, Larchmont-area stakeholder Sam Uretsky raised the issue, discussed at both the last GWNC Land Use and Board meetings, of the city’s apparent removal of applications for 100% affordable housing projects developed under the Mayor’s Executive Directive 1, from the Planning Department’s Early Notification Reports (ENRs), the primary source of new project information for the public and, especially, Neighborhood Councils.
Uretsky reported at last night’s meeting that the city has now posted a separate spreadsheet of ED1 applications, most likely in response to public outcry and coverage in the Buzz and other local publications. However, Uretsky said the spreadsheet is very basic, and the list – which doesn’t show any applications newer than June 18 – does not seem to update in real time. Finally, Uretsky also reported that, as suggested at last month’s LUC meeting, he has filed a Public Records Act request for all documents relating to the city’s removal of ED1 projects from the ENRs, but that he has not had any responses yet, other than a note saying the reply time for his request has been extended.
Committee members thanked Uretsky for his efforts, with committee member John Gresham saying that, “To remove transparency from what is supposed to be a very public resource is just wrong.” Committee member Jane Usher also requested that this item be agendized for a vote at next month’s Land Use meeting.
Next, in both Old and New Business last night, the Committee took formal votes on four issues.
Development of 100% Affordable Housing by Faith Based Organizations
First, as has been discussed at previous Land Use meetings, the new Citywide Housing Incentive Program (CHIP), now under consideration by the City Council, includes a section that would allow development of 100% affordable housing projects on land owned by faith-based organizations (FBOs). The measure is based on the statewide law SB 4, which paves the way for such developments in California cities, as long as the properties were owned by an FBO before January 1, 2024. The Los Angeles City Council, however, has proposed removing the retroactive ownership date from its own ordinance, which Land Use Committee members contend would open the door to, as Usher put it, “everyone, in perpetuity,” and allow developers calling themselves Faith Based Organizations to snap up new parcels to develop under the generous FBO guidelines.
Usher said Assembly Member Laura Friedman told her that the January, 2024 date was specifically included in SB 4 to prevent developers and others from doing this, and moved that the Land Use Committee recommend the GWNC board urge the City Council to maintain the January 1, 2024 ownership requirement for Faith Based Organizations in its CHIP ordinance. The motion passed unanimously.
Leopardo Restaurant Conditional Use Permit (460 S. La Brea)
Next, the committee considered a Conditional Use Permit application from the new Leopardo restaurant at 460 S. La Brea, in the former La Brea Bakery space. Restaurant representative Peter Carrillo said the business is requesting a permit for the 130-seat restaurant and 26-seat patio to serve a full line of alcoholic beverages, with daily hours from 7 am to midnight, and parking in a leased lot in the alley behind the property, adjacent to the Land Rover dealership north of the restaurant.
Committee members asked how these provisions will differ from those at La Brea Bakery, and Carrillo said that although that restaurant may not have served a full line of alcoholic beverages, or stayed open until midnight, it was officially permitted to do both, so there will be no changes from previous permit conditions. Also, when asked about Leopardo’s parking capacity, Carrilo said the restaurant served about 200 customers last Saturday night, and between the leased lot, street parking on La Brea, and many customers arriving via ride-share services, there were no problems with parking capacity.
Cathy Roberts, president of the La Brea Hancock Homeowners Association, which represents the neighborhood adjacent to the restaurant, said she was unaware that La Brea Bakery’s permit allowed it to be open until midnight. But she also reported that the LBHHOA discussed the new application at its last meeting, and while the group hasn’t yet voted on the matter, parking was the neighbors’ biggest concern so far, and Carrillo’s comments at this meeting seemed to answer most of their questions.
Potential late night noise from Leopardo’s patio (which has not yet opened) was another issue raised by Land Use committee members. But Carrillo said he is very aware that neighborhood homes abut the restaurant, and that he is also very eager to be a “good neighbor,” so will monitor the situation to make sure there are no problems. Also, Carrillo said the restaurant is currently open only for dinner, and while he hopes to open for breakfast and lunch, too, at some point, the exact hours of operation will depend on traffic, and there will be no point in being open very early, or staying open until midnight, if customers don’t come during those hours. And finally, he said, even if the restaurant does stay open until midnight, the kitchen will close at 10:30 pm, so people will not be coming in at 11:59 pm expecting to order dinner, and then lingering until much later. The midnight closing time, he said, is only to realistically reflect how late some customers may linger after ordering dinner by 10:30, which he said many restaurants are not as transparent about.
In the end, Usher moved that the Land Use Committee recommend that the GWNC board support the new Conditional Use Permit application, as long as the restaurant maintains the same operating conditions previously granted to the space’s prior proprietor. The motion passed unanimously.
Next, the Committee considered two more housing related policies.
Interim Control Ordinance for ED1 Projects in HPOZs
First was a recent City Council motion, from CD 5 representative Katy Yaroslavsky, which would establish an Interim Control Ordinance (ICO) requiring that 100% affordable housing projects, developed under the Mayor’s Executive Directive 1 and located in Historical Preservation Overlay Zones go through a discretionary review process (instead of the simply administrative approvals that other ED1 projects can receive). Usher moved that the Land Use Committee recommend the GWNC board support Councilmember Yaroskavsky’s ICO/discretionary review proposal for 100% affordable housing projects in HPOZs, with the further request that all such projects also be required to abide by all applicable rules of the specific HPOZ in which they’re located. The motion passed unanimously.
California Assembly Bill 2580
Finally among voting items last night, the Committee also addressed proposed California Assembly Bill 2580, which, asks that every city analyze how its historic districts affect adequate housing development, which the Land Use Committee’s agenda contended, “incorrectly frames historic preservation as a constraint and impediment to housing development.” The measure is formally supported by developers and the California YIMBY and Abundant Housing organizations…and is opposed by the LA Conservancy, the California Preservation Foundation, and other historic preservation organizations.
Usher moved that the Land Use Committee recommend that the GWNC board “express its opposition to AB 2580, which – without facts – unfairly targets historic preservation as an impediment to the creation of affordable housing, to the Mayor and the members of the City Council of the City of Los Angeles…and that the Land Use Committee further recommend that the GWNC board encourage stakeholders within the GWNC area to voice their opposition to AB 2580 to their state representatives, particularly those who represent the Greater Wilshire area.” The motion passed unanimously.
250 N. Wilton Pl. (Discussion Only)
Finally, one other issue discussed last night was a vacant lot at 250 N. Wilton Pl. (the SE corner of Beverly and Wilton), which is for sale and apparently being marketed as eligible for a six or seven-story ED1 or Transit Oriented Communities apartment project (see image above), despite its location either in or near local historic districts. The site’s status relative to those districts wasn’t fully clear yet at last night’s meeting, however, and that – combined with additional murkiness about the parcel’s history (during which a previous structure may have been illegally demolished, leaving the site subject to possible city remedies for that action), and the fact that no specific projects have yet been proposed there – led committee members to say they will keep an eye on the site, and will bring it back for further discussion as more becomes known.
Next Meetings
The next Land Use Committee meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 23, IN PERSON at Marlborough School (Room C115), 250 S. Rossmore Ave., at 6:30 pm.
The next GWNC Board meeting will be held on Wednesday, July 10, also IN PERSON, at the Ebell of Los Angeles, 743 S. Lucerne Blvd., at 6:30 pm.
