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Mansionization is coming to
Hollywoodland unless we act now
Our wonderful hillside neighborhood is protected by
law from the construction of "overly massive
buildings." But the City Planning Department
recently approved the expansion of a
4,235-square-foot house to 8,095 square feet, nearly
doubling its size and creating the largest home
built in Hollywoodland since the 1920s. Other homes
nearby average 2,500 square feet
(see
chart).
If you
value our community and want to preserve its
character - modest-sized homes and much open space -
we need your help now. Make your voice heard. A
major decision affecting all of us is about to be
made.
Construction in our neighborhood is governed by the
Hollywoodland Specific Plan, which the City Council
enacted in 1992. Purpose E of the plan clearly
states: "To protect against development of overly
massive buildings which are out-of-scale with the
existing buildings."
Despite
this clear language, the proposal to expand 3315
Durand Dr. from 4,235 square feet to 8,095 square
feet was approved in the last few months by the
Hollywoodland Design Review Board and the
Los Angeles
Planning Department. They completely ignored Purpose
E of the specific plan, which is the law.
The size
of the resulting house wasn't an issue for them.
The
Planning Department's approval decision ignored the
size of the home, though the issue was raised in
several letters sent to the department while it was
considering the proposal.
If this
project goes ahead and is built as planned, there
will be no way to stop similar massively
out-of-scale building in our community.
The
Beachwood Canyon Neighborhood Association, as well
as a group of your neighbors, have filed appeals
with the Central Los Angeles Area Planning
Commission, and we need your support for those
appeals.
The
appeals ask that this project be denied because it
violates Purpose E of the Hollywoodland Specific
Plan - It's just far too large! - as well as for
other factors. A hearing on the appeals will be held
at
City
Hall on July 22
- two weeks from now (see hearing notice).
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Take Action:
The Central Los Angeles Area Planning Commission would like
to hear from this community before
Friday, July 11. Please send your statements to:
APCCentral@lacity.org
councilmember.labonge@lacity.org
BeachwoodCanyon@sbcglobal.net
Cut and paste
the following into your subject line:
RE:
DIR-2008-0021-SPP-DRB-1A, 2A 3315 Durand Dr.
Hollywoodland
If you write a letter in hard copy for the
commission, you will need to send them
one original and 15 copies via U.S. Mail
or hand deliver these copies. If you
send e-mail, City staff will do that
duplicating for you.
We're also collecting signatures on a petition and
will be in front of the Beachwood Market
this coming Wednesday, July 9, from 4
p.m. until 7 p.m.
The Hearing: Please save this date:
Tuesday, July 22, 2008 at 4:30 p.m.
City Hall 10th Floor,
200 N. Spring
Street, L.A. 90012
(We will send out another bulletin with info on free
parking and carpooling.)
Please plan to attend the hearing and show the city
that Hollywoodland values its quaint
European Village atmosphere and wishes
to preserve it.
Questions? Please e-mail
BeachwoodCanyon@sbcglobal.net
or call
323-462-1514 |
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