Contact:
Laura Burns
Co-Chair, District 1 Representative
Land Use and Planning Committee
Grass Roots Venice Neighborhood Council
lburnslupc@grvnc.org
 

LAND USE AND PLANNING COMMITTEE (LUPC) VOTES UNANIMOUSLY TO OPPOSE LINCOLN CENTER, INCORPORATE ENVISION VENICE REPORT IN COMMUNITY IMPACT STATEMENT. GRVNC BOARD TO VOTE ON FINAL POSITION AT FEB. 12 MEETING. HEARING BEFORE CITY PLANNING OFFICER: MARCH 1. HEARING BEFORE THE PLANNING COMMISSION: MAY 13.

LUPC VOTES UNANIMOUSLY TO HOLD COMMUNITY FORUM ON THE FUTURE OF LINCOLN PLACE AT MARCH MEETING, INVITES NEW OWNER AIMCO TO PARTICIPATE.

LUPC VOTES 7-1 TO REQUEST THE CITY COUNCIL POSTPONE ANY HEARING ON THE DRAFT METHANE ORDINANCE FOR 45 DAYS TO ALLOW FOR FULL PARTICIPATION BY ALL CERTIFIED NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCILS. (for information contact: Sabrina Venskus, LUPC Co-Chair, 581-1180)

GRVNC BOARD TO REVOTE ON ST. JOSEPH CENTER AT FEB. 12TH MEETING. DUE TO INCORRECT WORDING IN THE AGENDA AT ITS LAST MEETING, BOARD WILL VOTE AGAIN ON THE PROJECT.

In its Feb 3rd meeting, the Grassroots Venice Certified Neighborhood Councilís Land Use and Planning committee voted unanimously to oppose approval of the Lincoln Center project, situated on the NE and SE corners of Lincoln Blvd and California. A public meeting will be held before a Hearing Officer of the Planning Department March 1. The LUPC action allows the Neigborhood Council to officially weigh in on the project and submit a Community Impact Statement before the March 1 hearing. The Board will hear testimony from stakeholders and vote on the LUPC recommendation at its Feb. 12th hearing.

The LUPC voted further to incorporate the analysis of the Lincoln Center proposal in the Appendix of Envision Venice Report as part of the Community Impact Statement. LUPC is currently drafting the Statement to submit to the Board for consideration at the Feb. 12 meeting.

Prior to the LUPC vote, the public was asked how many opposed the project. Everyone in the room stood up.
 

At the LUPC meeting, District 1 Representative and Co-Chair Laura Burns reported that Frank Quon of the Planning Department had told  her that there was no affordable housing component in the project application.

The project is for two 6-story  66 foot buildings with two floors of retail, four floors of apartments, and three levels of parking, 2 subterranen and one at ground level. The project applicant is requesting
A. a conditional use permit to allow
1) 66í buildings in lieu of the maximum 45 ft permitted.
2) delivery earlier than 7 am and later than 8 pm M-F and earlier than 10 am and later than 4 pm Saturdays and Sundays
3) retail hours of operation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
B. a zoning change, which would allow buildings to be located anywhere on the lots (it is currently restricted) and could allow entrances and exits from Frederick St, also currently not allow under zoning Q conditions.

"One of the greatest public concerns stakeholders have expressed at the many Lincoln Center hearings the committee has held, is the precedent-setting 66í height, which future developers can then point to as a property right enjoyed by others that is unfairly denied to them," said co-chair Laura Burns.

Co-chairs Sabrina Venskus and Laura Burns urged stakeholders to attend the Board meeting Feb. 12 and the hearing March 1 to make their position known to decision-makers, and to write Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski. Letters should be submitted to the hearing officer Jon Foreman, LA City Planning Dept, Community Planning Bureau, Room 621, City Hall, 200 N. Spring St, Los Angeles, CA 90012. They should include the case number CPC 1999-0210-ZC-CU. Letters previously mailed concerning the project were for an earlier application, so stakeholders should write again. They may also fax comments.

Copies of the project application, drawings, proposed mitigation negative declaration which includes a traffic study, and developer arguments why the zoning change and conditional use permits should be granted can be viewed at the Venice Public Library and at the Vera Davis Center on the corner of California and Electric Avenues.

Following the meeting, members of the Venice Community Coalition, which initiated the Envision Venice event, announced they will hold a series of meetings to organize opposition to the project, including a letter-writing campaign, beginning Thursday, Feb.5. Those interested should send an email to venicecc@yahoo.com  . There is also an internet discussion group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/venicecc
 

At the meeting, LUPC members also voted unanimously to invite AIMCO, the new owner of Lincoln Place, a 32 acre 700-unit housing complex from 1951 located just behind the Lincoln Center project, to a community forum on the future of the complex. The forum is designed as an informational exchange between stakeholders and AIMCO.

Executives of AIMCO, a publically traded real estate investment trust and largest apartment owner in the US after HUD, said in their 2003 Q3 earnings conference call that Lincoln Place had the "potential for 1300 newly-build units". Asked by David Harris of Lehman Bros whether they would consider "selling to a condo-developer", the response was "Perhaps."

In public testimony at the LUPC meeting, Lincoln Place Tenants Association President Sheila Bernard stated that tenants have been in limbo since the sale to AIMCO in August.

"Even if AIMCO has not determined what it would like to do with the property, having neighborhood input on what the communnity would like can greatly facilitate designing a project which is a win-win for both AIMCO and the Venice community," said Laura Burns, LUPC district 1 representative. "Knowing the communities wishes beforehand can go a long way towards preventing the adversarial relationships between community and developer which plague so many projects." Both Lincoln Center and Lincoln Place are in District 1.