Tag Archives: Hollywood

Trees

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T A Birds

I have to admit, I used to take trees for granted.

T A Branch

I was lucky. I grew up in a neighborhood filled with trees. As kids we used to play all day under a canopy of lush green.

T A Lvs Shad

And I’m still lucky. The street I live on now is lined with trees. On weekend mornings I go running, and it’s amazing how many different shades of green I see.

T B Surround

Parks are cool, too. When I was younger I thought going to a park was boring. Now I really enjoy just strecthing out on the grass in a shady spot.

T C Home

I’ve been reading lately how the drought, and our reaction to the drought, is affecting trees. Of course, we’ve all been in a panic to save water, and it’s probably no surprise we’ve made mistakes. The City of LA has been criticized for its decision to stop watering medians, which will have a negative impact on the trees planted there, and since everything is connected to everything, this will cause further negative impacts.

T B Bark X

I can’t blame the City Council, because I’m just as ignorant as they are when it comes to this stuff, but we all have to educate ourselves and think before we act. If not, our response to one crisis will just create another.

T D Glare X

The City of LA has had trouble with trees for years. One of the biggest problems is that trees have roots.

T C Sdwlk X

I’m sure everybody in LA knows of at least one place where the sidewalk is slowly busting upward. And not only is this a safety hazard, but it makes it really difficult for people with disabilities to get around. Years ago the City started cutting down ficus trees so they could repair the sidewalks, and in some neighborhoods the residents went wild. A lot of people love trees, and it is pretty traumatic to see one you care about being chopped down. After struggling with angry residents for a while, the City backed off. But that left them back at square one, and in some areas the sidewalks were really getting dangerous.

T C Sdwlk 2 X

I was at a meeting recently where a representative from the Bureau of Street Services talked about this issue. He said that after fighting for years with people who were ready to chain themselves to ficus trees, the Bureau has decided that it’s best to let the residents decide whether or not a tree should be removed.

DSC00207

But he did mention one site where the Bureau plans to pull out the chain saws. There’s a row of trees on Vine just below Sunset. They are large and dense, and I think beautiful, but that spot has become a magnet for the homeless. This stretch has also become a hot spot for crime, and so the City has decided the trees have to go.

T C Vn Man

I’ll miss them. These photos were taken after they’d been trimmed, and you don’t really get a sense of how dense and dark the canopy ordinarily was. In the middle of the city, with traffic all around, you could feel like you were standing in the forest.

T C Vn Bldg 2

Trees aren’t permanent, but they live so long it seems that way. Many of the species that we find in our neighborhoods have an average life span of a hundred years, and some will live for two or three hundred years. Though they change over time, they seem like a fixed part of the landscape.

T C Branch Twst X

My mother still lives in the house I grew up in. Not too long ago the house across the street from her was sold, and the new owner cut down a large tree that dominated the front yard. It took some getting used to. I had played under that tree when it was a kid. It was part of the landscape of my childhood.

T B Pods X

There’s a growing awareness of how important trees are to the ecology of the city. They take CO2 out of the atmosphere, protect the soil and cool our neighborhoods. I have to thank Councilmember Paul Koretz for introducing a motion on tree health (Council File: 15-0467). It’s still making its way through committees and city departments, but hopefully it will come up for a vote soon.

T D Fuzz Bl X

There’s a feeling I get when I’m walking through a quiet neighborhood at dusk. As the light fades, the trees lose their color. The shadows deepen. The branches and leaves rising up around you turn to silhouettes against the twilight sky.

T D Gath Dk X

It feels so peaceful.

T E Dark Mass X

A New Vision or Another Con?

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A view of the Hollywood Freeway from Franklin

A view of the Hollywood Freeway from Franklin

A while ago I was walking down Franklin around rush hour, and I came across a sight that’s becoming way too familiar. Looking down Vine, I saw a line of cars that extended all the way down the block.

Looking down Vine at rush hour

Looking down Vine at rush hour

I pulled out my camera, because I’ve kind of gotten obsessed with documenting traffic in LA. You probably think this is a pretty weird pasttime, but it keeps me off the streets. Oh, wait. No, actually it doesn’t….

Intersection of Vine and Yucca

Intersection of Vine and Yucca

Anyway, I walked down Vine taking pictures, and guess what I saw when I got to Yucca?

Cars lining up in the left turn lane on Yucca

Cars lining up in the left turn lane on Yucca

If you guessed another long line of cars, you were right. If you don’t live in the area, this may not seem like anything remarkable. But having lived in Hollywood for a while, I can tell you that this is a pretty recent phenomenon. Yucca used to be very quiet. I’d say up to three or four years ago Yucca was empty even at rush hour. Obviously that’s changed.

I kept on walking, and you’ve probably already guessed that when I got to Argyle, I saw yet another line of cars crawling along.

More cars backed up on Argyle

More cars backed up on Argyle

But the thing that surprised me was, traffic on Argyle was backed up all the way to Hollywood Blvd..

Still more cars backed up on Argyle

Still more cars backed up on Argyle

I walked up Argyle, shooting more photos as I passed underneath the bridge.

Traffic crawling north on Argyle

Traffic crawling north on Argyle

Then I was back at Franklin, and by now everybody knows what I found when I got there.

Westbound traffic on Franklin

Westbound traffic on Franklin

You may be asking, where were all these cars heading? Well, they were all trying to get on the northbound Hollywood Freeway. And traffic on the freeway was moving pretty damn slow.

Northbound onramp for the Hollywood Freeway

Northbound onramp for the Hollywood Freeway

I think we’d all agree that LA’s streets are way too congested, and we’ve got to start thinking about transportation in new ways. Cars are a dead end. We’ve got to stop building to accomodate them. The recent expansion of the San Diego Freeway showed what a waste of time that is. We can add as many lanes as we want, and they’ll all end up choked with traffic.

So some people see the City Council’s adoption of the Mobility Plan 2035 as a major step in the right direction. It sure sounds swell. With chapters titled “Safety First”, “World Class Infrastructure” and “Access for All Angelenos”, the MP 2035 paints a picture of a utopian LA, where everybody can get everywhere they want without ever needing a car.

But a lot of people are skeptical about the benefits the plan will actually provide, and I’m one of them. I totally support increased access to all modes of transportation, and if you take the MP 2035 at face value, it sounds great. The question is, will the plan deliver what it promises, and to answer that question you have to look at what our elected officials have actually been doing for the last several years.

Under the heading Key Policy Initiatives, the plan includes the following goal….

Consider the strong link between land use and transportation

No doubt about it, land use and transportation have to be considered together. For years now the Mayor and the City Council have been pushing transit oriented density (TOD). In theory, planning for higher density near transit centers will create a new dynamic where people will find using public transit preferable to driving a car. Now, if we were building affordable housing near transit centers that allowed easy access to the areas where jobs were concentrated, this might actually work. But that’s not what the Mayor and the City Council have actually been doing. Instead, they’ve been pushing relentlessly for high-end, high-rise housing that caters to people with six figure incomes. Check out the proposed 8150 Sunset, Horizon Hollywood and Shenzhen Hazens project in South Park for three examples. There are many more in the planning stages. Do the rich ride the subway? I’m sure some of them do, but let’s be honest. In LA, this is the demographic that is least likely to use public transit, while people at the lower end of the economic spectrum often have no other choice.

This is not transit oriented density. It’s profit oriented density. The Mayor and the City Council can tell us they’re linking land use to transportation to make transit more accessible, but recent history shows that this is mostly a con used to push through projects that only benefit developers who are looking to make a pile of money. Not only have our elected officials’ efforts to create affordable housing been pathetic, but by pushing gentrification in areas that used to be affordable, they’re actually forcing low-income workers farther away from job centers.

So if you ask me whether the MP 2035 will deliver what it promises, I can’t say I’m optimistic. Even before Garcetti became the Mayor, when his council district covered much of central Hollywood, he pushed through a number of “TOD” projects, telling residents that this would solve our transportation problems. Take a look at the video below and let me know if you think it’s working.

We Still Haven’t Crossed the Finish Line

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front of N.F. Stokes Residence

front of N.F. Stokes Residence

I was thrilled last week when I heard that LA’s Cultural Heritage Commission voted unanimously in favor of designating the N.F. Stokes Residence a historic cultural monument. The building, at 1905 Grace, dates back to 1917 and is one of the few structures from that era still standing in the Hollywood area. At the same meeting the CHC voted to consider the Mosaic Church, at Hollywood and La Brea, for designation as well. There were a number of people in the community who have worked long and hard to save these buildings, and reading the e-mails from those involved it seemed like everyone was breathing a collective sigh of relief.

But the fight isn’t over yet.

I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade, but we have to remember that the Stokes house won’t actually be declared a monument until the City Council votes on it. That’s when it becomes official. And as for the Mosaic Church, I was at a meeting last week where a developer’s representative flatly declared that the building did not deserve monument status. Now, you might be thinking, Hey, the CHC vote was unanimous. They clearly believe that both buildings are worth saving! How could the City Council ignore their recommendation?

Better think again. Not too long ago Mayor Garcetti pushed for the demolition of the Oswald Bartlett House over the loud objections of the preservation community, and he got his way. That house is gone. Over the past few months the Mayor has overridden the City Planning Commission to revive two major developments that faced strong opposition from the neighboring communities. There are no guarantees here. Recent history has shown that the Mayor and the City Council will do what they want. Which is often exactly what the developers want.

So we need to keep the pressure on. If you live in Council District 4, where the Stokes Residence and the Mosaic Church are both located, you might want to contact newly elected Councilmember David Ryu. His support will be crucial. Here’s his info.

Councilmember David Ryu
david.ryu@lacity.org
323 957-6415

And if you don’t live in CD 4, you can still contact your councilmember and let them know you think these buildings are worth saving.

Mosaic Church

Mosaic Church

Hollywood Journal – It Wasn’t What I Wanted

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Egyp Pylons Angle

Things change, and sometimes change is hard to accept. Part of the reason I spent years keeping a journal on Hollywood was to record the transformations that were taking place. One of the biggest upheavals was in the way films were exhibited. Hollywood is home to a handful of movie palaces, all of them built over the course of a decade starting in the early twenties. Up through the eighties, those palaces were still playing first run movies, and on opening weekend you might see lines going down the block.

But in the eighties multi-plexes started springing up, and the huge Hollywood theatres couldn’t compete. They either had to change or die. The Egyptian Theatre was shuttered in 1992. I was really upset. I’d seen so many movies there, including 2001, Alien and Point Break. When it suffered major damage in the 1994 Northridge quake, I was sure the next step was demolition. So I was overjoyed when I heard the American Cinematheque had bought the building and was going to renovate it.

Overjoyed, that is, until the theatre reopened and I saw the results. The auditorium was less than half its original size and the screen was significantly smaller. Plus, there were a number of minor changes that bugged me. I wrote it all down in the journal entry below. I was ticked off.

On the plus side, though, the Cinematheque was on Hollywood Boulevard and they were showing some great stuff. I eventually signed on as a volunteer, and ended up giving tours of the theatre, which made me look at the changes in a whole new light. In the first place, there was no way the Cinematheque could run the Egyptian as a 2,000 seat house. It just wasn’t possible to fill an auditorium that big on a regular basis. They had to find a way to solve that problem, and the solution was building two smaller theatres inside the original structure. Second, the theatre I remembered was very different from the theatre Sid Grauman had built in nineteen twenty two. He created a silent movie palace. As soon as sound came in, the theatre had to start adapting to stay viable, and numerous changes had been made over the years. In the process of renovating the Egyptian, the Cinematheque actually revealed parts of the original structure that had been concealed for decades. Third, the process of renovating a historic building is incredibly complex and costly. The Cinematheque had to follow the City’s code for historic preservation and find the money to pay for everything. They were lucky to connect with a couple of very talented architects, Craig Hodgetts and Ming Fung. The team came up with a number of innovative and elegant solutions to some difficult problems.

I love seeing movies at the Egyptian these days. If the screen isn’t quite as big as it used to be, it’s still one of the largest you’ll find in LA. And the sound is way better than it was when the Egyptian was operating as a commercial movie theatre. So while the journal entry below shows my initial disappointment, as the politicians say, my views have evolved. When the theatre first reopened, I wanted it to be the way I remembered it in years past. That wasn’t possible. Things change.

Here’s a link to a page on the American Cinematheque web site that shows images of the Egyptian over the years.

Egyptian Theatre Past

And here’s a link to the Hodgetts and Fung web site that shows images of their renovation/restoration.

H+F Egyptian Theatre

Egyp Hier

January, Nineteen Ninety Nine

Well, last night I finally made it over to the American Cinematheque. And I’ve gotta say I’m pretty disappointed with what they’ve done to the Egyptian. I mean, if you just want to look at it as a modern, mid-sized theatre it’s fine. But, aside from preserving some of the decorative elements, it has nothing to do with what the Egyptian was. It seems like the auditorium is about half its original size. The screen is considerably smaller. The seats are cozy but narrow, and there’s very little leg room. I was more comfortable the other night at the Beverly. Why do they have that sign up that says it’s Grauman’s Egyptian? It’s not. Did any of the people involved seriously think they were restoring or renovating the original theatre? All they’ve done is build a mid-sized auditorium inside the shell of a movie palace. They’ve completely changed the interior and the exterior of the building. The experience of going to this new Egyptian Theatre is totally different, and it’s certainly not a change for the better.

Now that I’ve got that out of my system, I also have to say I’m really glad to have the American Cinematheque on Hollywood Boulevard. I’m pretty impressed by their programming so far. It seems like they really want to offer all kinds of films. In spite of what they’ve done to the Egyptian, I look forward to going back.

Last night we saw Cruising, and Friedkin was there to talk about it. I really liked the film. It was interesting to hear the director’s comments, too.

Egyp Columns

Erasing Hollywood’s History

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A view of 1905 Grace from Grace Ave..

A view of 1905 Grace from Grace Ave..

UPDATE: A time has been set for the meeting to consider this building as a historic landmark. Here are the details:

CULTURAL HERITAGE COMMISSION
SPECIAL MEETING
Tuesday, May 12, 2015, 10:00 am
200 North Spring St.
Room 1050, City Hall

You might also want to take the time to read the comment at the end of this post from John Girodo of Hollywood Heritage. He gives more information about what’s happening.

Thursday night I heard some disturbing news. An American Colonial mansion that was built in 1917, located at the corner of Grace and Franklin in Hollywood, is slated for demolition. A developer wants to knock the building down, probably with the intention of constructing high-end residential units.

Hollywood Heritage is trying to have the mansion nominated as a historic monument, but things don’t look good. The Office of Historic Resources will be holding a hearing to consider the nomination, but it’s on such short notice that it will be hard to rally the community. The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 12. The last I heard, the time hasn’t been set.

It seems like the City is trying to rush this through, which doesn’t surprise me given their recent record. In just the last year the City has allowed developers to level the Mole-Richardson Building on La Brea and the Oswald Bartlett House in Los Feliz. Those are just the two most recent casualties of the current wave of development.

Can anybody stop this? I don’t know. It would be great to have a good turnout at the meeting on Tuesday. Hollywood Heritage says people must show up in person to express their views, but it’s hard to plan on attending when the time hasn’t even been set. Hopefully the OHR will nail that down pretty soon. It also might be helpful to find out what CD 4 candidates Carolyn Ramsay and David Ryu have to say about this. They’ve both said they want to preserve Hollywood’s history. Let’s find out if they really mean it.

Carolyn Ramsay

David Ryu

If you can’t make it to the meeting on Tuesday, you might still let the OHR know how you feel about this. The link is below.

Office of Historic Resources

[For an update on 1905 Grace, click here.]

A view of 1905 Grace from Franklin Ave..

A view of 1905 Grace from Franklin Ave..

Where’s the Water Coming From?

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The Palladium, with Columbia Square rising in the background.

The Palladium, with Columbia Square rising in the background.

There’s a hearing at City Hall this Wednesday on a project proposed for the site surrounding the Palladium on Sunset. The project is called Palladium Residences, and there are two ways it could go. Either 731 residential units, or 598 residential units and a 250 room hotel. Both options include 24,000 sq. ft. of retail and restaurant space.

My question is, where is the water for this going to come from? I think by now everybody in LA knows there’s a drought going on. In fact, an extreme drought. Gov. Brown has declared a drought state of emergency and soon the Metropolitan Water District will be cutting deliveries to its Southern California customers, including Los Angeles. Angelenos have already been asked to voluntarily cut their water consumption by 20%, but the move by the MWD means we have no choice.

So let’s look at the Palladium project in this context. How will it impact water usage in the Hollywood area?

First, in its current state, the site needs very little water. Aside from the Palladium, it’s pretty much all parking lot, so unless there’s a show going on, consumption is zero. Whatever the developer builds, it’s going to cause a large increase in water usage. Even if we assume that the project will be built utilizing every water conservation measure imaginable, we’re probably looking at a net increase of between 100 and 200 acre feet per year.

But that’s just looking at the Palladium Residences in isolation. The site is surrounded by a number of other projects that are already under construction. Right next door, we have Columbia Square, which includes 200 residential units, over 400,000 sq. ft. of office space and 30,000 sq. ft. of retail.

Columbia Square

Columbia Square

On the opposite side and just to the north the new Camden is going up, offering 287 rooms.

The Camden

The Camden

Just across the street from that is 1601 Vine, an 8-story office building. Relatively speaking, office space doesn’t require a lot of water, but since the site was previously a parking lot, there will still be a net increase in water use.

1601 Vine

1601 Vine

A couple blocks to the west, the new 182-room Dream Hotel is rising over Selma.

The Dream Hotel

The Dream Hotel

And just beyond that is the Mama Shelter Hotel, with 70 rooms, which will occupy a building that was previously vacant.

Mama Shelter Hotel

Mama Shelter Hotel

Remember, all of these projects are being built on sites that previously consumed little or no water. It’s important to say, too, that all these hotels will have at least two restaurants, and will be hosting banquets, which drives water use way up. So putting all this together, conservatively speaking, we’ll probably see a net usage increase of at least 500 acre feet of water per year.

But wait. There’s more. Aside from the projects I’ve already mentioned, there are around 60 others proposed for the Hollywood area, many of them just as large as the ones listed above. So we’re not just talking about 500 additional acre feet of water per year. We’re talking thousands more. And that’s just Hollywood. If you look at Downtown, you’ll see a similar number of projects, some of them way bigger than anything proposed for Hollywood. There are also plans for major developments for Wilshire Blvd., the Crenshaw District and Boyle Heights.

Does anyone see a problem with this?

I’m not saying we should put a halt to development. But we do need to figure out how much development we can actually support. The DWP says that LA is in fairly good shape in the near term, but they’re only looking a couple of years ahead. Some scientists think this drought could last for several more years. By now everybody who lives in California knows that many of our reservoirs are at less than half of capacity, and the snow pack has shrunk to 6% of what’s normal for spring. The wells in the San Fernando Valley that we used to rely on have become contaminated, and it will take years before they’re cleaned up.

We need to figure out a water budget. First the DWP needs to prepare a realistic estimate of how much water we can rely on for at least the next five years. Then the Department of City Planning needs to make sure they have solid numbers regarding the water that will be consumed by each proposed project. With that information, they can make a cumulative assessment of the impact all these projects will have on our water resources, and prioritize them based on how beneficial they’ll be to the community. Let’s get real. We don’t have the water to build all this stuff. Even if we have supplies to last for the next year or two, these projects will be consuming water for decades, and some scientists believe this drought could get much worse than it already is. We need to know how much water we can realistically count on, and then we need to plan accordingly.

The Mayor has been telling us that we need to cut our water use by 20%, but at the same time he’s pushing this aggressive development agenda which is guaranteed to boost water consumption even as Angelenos are told they need to conserve. And let’s be honest. We haven’t made much progress in cutting our water use. Even with the threat of a massive drought, we’re using about as much water as we always have. So residential towers and high-rise hotels are just pushing us farther into the danger zone.

We need development, but it has to be planned development. If the City of LA wants to grow, it needs to find out first how much water we have, and how much each of these projects is going to consume. Much of the reason we’re in trouble today is that for decades the City allowed massive growth without proper planning. We’ve been sucking up water from all over the Southwest to build a vast metropolis in an area that has very little water of its own. We can’t do that any more. We need to start living within our means.

Another view of The Palladium, now with The Camden construction site in the background.

Another view of The Palladium, now with The Camden construction site in the background.

Alcohollywood

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Hlwd Bars 1 Rd St

I want to go on record here. I like to drink. I’ve spent a fair amount of time hanging out in bars. But even I’m getting scared of how accessible booze is in Hollywood. The neighborhood is packed with bars and clubs, and it seems like every new restaurant that opens gets a full liquor license. If it was just a matter of dealing with crowded sidewalks and noisy drunks, I might be able to handle that. But the problems we’re seeing are actually much worse.

In fact, it’s getting so bad that last October LAPD Chief Charlie Beck wrote a letter to Linn Wyatt, the City’s Chief Zoning Administrator. In he talks about the “oversaturation of ABC [Alcohol Beverage Control] locations”. He mentions how these establishments “have generated numerous crime reports” which are straining police resources. And the crimes he lists include collisions involving pedestrians, DUIs, assault with a deadly weapon, robberies, thefts, fights, shootings and rapes. But don’t take my word for it. Click on the link to read the letter yourself.

Letter from Chief Beck

It doesn’t seem like anybody at the Department of City Planning read Chief Beck’s letter, because they keep on handing out liquor licenses like they were candy. I get the impression that public safety is something they don’t worry about much at the DCP.

Hlwd Bars 2 Vogue

But we’ve gotta draw the line somewhere. Recently I received a notice from the Department of City Planning regarding a project at the corner of Hollywood and Hudson. Hollywood Dreams, LLC plans to remodel an existing building to house a bar and four restaurants. They’re asking for five — yes, five — full liquor licenses. I was stunned. With all the problems we’re already seeing in the area, they want five more places selling liquor on the boulevard?!

I wasn’t the only one taken aback. Gilbert Mora and Robin Yoo of Behavioral Health Services were so concerned they made a list of existing ABC locations in the same census tract, roughly a half square mile. For this area, the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control says that no more than two on-site liquor permits should be authorized. By my count, there are already 15 on the list. (If you include stores and caterers that have off-site liquor permits, the number rises to 21.) So the City of LA has already allowed over 7 times what the state allows. And now this developer is asking for five more permits for a single location. Remember, too, that this is just one tract. There are dozens of other bars, clubs and restaurants that serve alcohol in Hollywood.

But let’s take a look at the actual statistics for crime in the neighborhood around this project. I went to CrimeMapping.Com and entered the address. Click on the link to see what’s happened within a one mile radius over the past two weeks.

6529 Hollywood Blvd.

As you can see, this neighborhood gets a lot of action. The crimes include assault with a deadly weapon, robbery, and vehicle theft. A total of 79 crimes. Still, we need to check out some other location for comparison. So let’s go down the road about a mile and see what it’s like on a stretch of Melrose where there are far fewer bars and restaurants that serve alcohol. I wonder what kind of crime they have down there.

6500 Melrose Ave.

So just a mile down the road, there have been only 38 crimes in the past two weeks. Less than half. Does anybody think that just maybe there’s a link between the amount of alcohol being consumed in Hollywood and the amount of crime that’s occurring there?

Hlwd Bars 3 Fox

And it’s only going to get worse. There are many other developers that want to get permits in the area. Ten more hotels are planned for Hollywood, including three that are under construction right now on Selma Ave., which is just a block south of Hollywood Blvd.. The DCP has already given full liquor licenses to all three.

This is ridiculous. Enough is enough. There’s a hearing on Tuesday, March 10 at 9:30 am, and I’m going to be there. I want to ask the zoning administrator why they keep handing out these permits when there’s a clear threat to public safety. If you feeling like joining me, the more the merrier. Here’s the address.

Los Angeles City Hall
200 North Spring Street, Room 1020
(Enter from Main Street)

And if you can’t make it to City Hall, you can still send an e-mail to the DCP. Here’s the info. It’s a good idea to include the case number in the subject line.

Staff Contact:
Matthew Quan
Matthew.Quan@lacity.org
Case No: ZA 2014-2008(MCUP)

If you do send an e-mail to the DCP, please copy me on it. I’m wondering how many other people out there are as ticked off as I am. Here’s my address.

thehorizonandtheskyline@gmail.com

I’m fine with people coming to Hollywood to have a good time, but this has gotten way out of hand. We need to stop handing out liquor permits to anyone who asks for one.

Hlwd Bars 4 Loaded

Sucking the Soul out of Hollywood

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Hlwd VC Corner Op

I was saddened, but not really surprised, to hear that the Villa Carlotta had been bought by a developer that wanted to turn it into an extended stay hotel. This kind of thing is going on all over Hollywood these days. Developers and real estate interests with tons of cash buying up older buildings, kicking out the tenants, and reinventing the place as a playground for the upscale crowd.

Hlwd VC Edge

It’s especially sad with the Villa Carlotta, though, because of the community that had grown inside those walls. Take a look at this article from Vanity Fair, written by a tenant, to get a sense of what’s being lost as these people are forced out by the owner.

Ciao, Villa

Here’s another article from the LA Times.

Changing Neighborhood Engulfs Their Old Hollywood Home

Hlwd VC Window H

There are larger issues, too. Not only are these people losing their homes, but they’ll have a hard time finding anything else that they can afford. Rents are going up all over LA. Owners of older apartments are jacking up rents, and units in many of the new buildings start at around $2,000 a month.

It’s well known that LA is in an affordable housing crisis, and taking the 50 units in the Villa Carlotta off the market is just one more turn of the screw. Hopefully SB 2222 will put a stop to this. It was recently signed into law by Governor Brown, and requires that developers who acquire a rent-controlled property maintain the same number of affordable units regardless of what they plan to do with the property. But LA has lost thousands of affordable units in recent years. The new law may be too little too late.

Hlwd VC Pots

In The Times piece the writer describes the meeting the developer had with the tenants to let them know they were being evicted. The way they were spinning it was that the tenants should be glad, because the developer was going to spend a lot of money refurbishing the building. This just shows how clueless they are. These people aren’t just losing their home, they’re losing a place where they made friends and partied, a place where they shared food, stories, art and music. For these people it wasn’t just a place to live, it was a community. The Villa Carlotta is a lovely relic of old Hollywood, but even more special than the building are the people who lived there.

Of course, the new owners don’t care about the people. All they care about is money.

Hlwd VC Door

The Neighborhood Is Changing, and Not for the Better

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The main gate that used to lead to the Cat & Fiddle.

The main gate that used to lead to the Cat & Fiddle.

I was with with my brother and my nephew last week when we decided to go to the Cat & Fiddle for dinner. What a shock to find out that they were closing the place down. Apparently the owners are looking for a new location, but at this point they haven’t found anything. When I dropped in a couple days ago, the restaurant was almost cleaned out. I’ve had so many good times at the Cat & Fiddle, hung out there with so many good friends. It was strange to be standing there, surrounded by boxes and furniture. Nobody sitting in the booths. Nobody standing at the bar. No music. No conversation. Just silence.

The silent courtyard.

The silent courtyard.

The empty booths.

The empty booths.

The deserted bar.

The deserted bar.

According to the LA Weekly, the building was purchased by its current owners, an investment group headed by Jesse Shannon, in 2005. When the Cat & Fiddle’s lease was up, apparently Shannon wouldn’t consider renewing it. At this point he has not revealed who the new tenant will be. No doubt one more upscale bar/club/restaurant of the type that’s been spreading like a virus through Hollywood for the past decade. Shannon does say that his group plans to spend millions to renovate the building.

This is good news. I hope he’s serious. The building is a beautiful example of the Spanish Colonial Revival style, with some very cool Churrigueresque decoration. I hope the money Shannon spends is matched by a real desire to restore the building, rather than to make it a glitzy magnet for club-hopping kids.

A few links. The first is to the story in the LA Weekly. Next, a link to a Facebook page that was created in the hope that the Cat & Fiddle could stay at its old location. It has some photos that show how full of life the place was. And last, an article on LA Eater in which Shannon talks about the reasons for not renewing the restaurant’s lease.

Farewell to the Cat & Fiddle

Let’s Save the Cat & Fiddle

Why the Cat & Fiddle Had to Go

I look forward to checking out the next incarnation of the Cat & Fiddle whenever it finds a new location, but I’m really sad to see it leave the building on Sunset. Sad because it was such a great place to hang out. And also sad because it’s just the latest casualty of the gentrification craze that’s sweeping through LA. The new tenant may have an amazing menu and a fabulous bar, but I seriously doubt it will have one tenth of the character that the Cat & Fiddle had.

A photo of the Cat & Fiddle from September of this year.

A photo of the Cat & Fiddle from September of this year.

Too Much Liquor, Not Enough Parking

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Hotel at the Corner of Wilcox and Selma being renovated by Mama Shelter

Hotel at the Corner of Wilcox and Selma being renovated by Mama Shelter

Last week I went down to City Hall to attend a hearing. An old hotel at Wilcox and Selma that hasn’t been occupied for years is being renovated with the intention of turning it into a new boutique hotel run by the Mama Shelter chain. I have no problem with them renovating the hotel, and Mama Shelter seems like it might be a good addition to the neighborhood, but one of the variances they were asking for concerned me. Here’s the text from the hearing notice.

Pursuant to LA Municipal Code Section 12.24-W,1, a Conditional Use to permit the sale of a full line of alcoholic beverages for on-site consumption in conjunction with a proposed ground floor restaurant and a rooftop restaurant, with live entertainment.

Before I go any further, let me give you a little background. I like a having a drink as much as the next guy, and maybe even a little more than the next guy. I certainly don’t want to see Hollywood go dry. But for those of you who don’t live in the area, I can tell you that you couldn’t throw a rock down the street without hitting a bar or a club. The place is crawling with them. Some of you may be familiar with the Cahuenga club scene, which has become a major attraction for people who want to party.

This has caused some problems. In fact, the problems are so serious, that the LAPD recently sent a letter to the Chief Zoning Administrator which complained of the “oversaturation of ABC [Alcohol Beverage Control] locations in the area”. Among the problems caused by this high concentration of bars and clubs are “traffic collisons involving pedestrians, driving under the influence, assault with a deadly weapon, robberies, thefts, fights with serious injuries, shootings and rapes”.

You can see the problems are pretty serious. And while Mama Shelter’s reps at the meeting said that their focus is on serving food, not alcohol, the fact that they want a full liquor license, they want to have live entertainment, and they want to stay open til 2:00 am, seems to indicate that they’ll be drawing the party crowd.

There are other issues. A couple of senior citizens attended the meeting. They live in a building near the proposed hotel, and they both said that they’re already having trouble sleeping because of bars and clubs in the area that have live music. Live entertainment on the rooftop is only going to make it even harder for neighborhood residents to get a good night’s sleep. The noise issue was also brought up by a couple other people who attended, one of whom works for a hostel right across the street.

Then there’s the parking. Here’s another item from the hearing notice.

Pursuant to Los Angeles Municipal Code Section 12.27, a zone variance to permit the five (5) required parking spaces to be provided off-site within 750 feet by lease in lieu of covenant as required pursuant to Section 12.26-E.5.

This makes it sound as though the hotel has almost enough on-site parking, and they’re only asking to have five additional spaces located off-site. But during the hearing there was an exchange between the zoning administrator and the project rep, and it sounded like the hotel has no parking at all right now. The rep said they were still looking to sign a deal, but that parking is difficult to come by in Hollywood. Yep. Sure is. And if Mama Shelter opens their hotel without adequate parking for guests and visitors, that’s going to make it way harder for those who live in the neighborhood to park their cars.

It seemed unbelievable that Mama Shelter could be as close to opening as they are and still not have the parking nailed down. So earlier this week I e-mailed the zoning administrator to ask if I’d understood the situation correctly. I still haven’t heard back from him.

One of the project reps said the renovations are almost completed. Apparently they hope to open early next year. You might ask why anybody who had invested so much money in a project would wait until they were almost ready to open before having this hearing. They’re looking for permits to allow them to sell alcohol and have live entertainment, which apparently is a key part of their business model. And whatever the situation is with the parking, right now they don’t have enough to satisfy the City’s requirements.

So why would they go this far down the road without having resolved these key issues? Why would they spend millions of dollars on renovations before they’d even secured the necessary permits? Unless maybe somebody at City Hall told them not to worry about it. That it would all be taken care of.

The comment period has been extended to Wednesday, December 17. If you live in the area and you’re concerned about any of the issues this project raises, you might want to contact May Sirinopwongsagon at the Department of City Planning. Here’s her e-mail.

may.sirinopwongsagon@lacity.org