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On Friday, August 15,
Councilperson Rosendahl's
office convened a meeting to
discuss the Barrington
project. Those in attendance
included Westdale Homeowner
Association directors Chuck
Ray and Gene Manusov, Len
Nguyen (Rosendahl's staff),
Albert Olsen (MVCC), Abe
Assil (owner), and Sharon
Commins (MVCC).
At the meeting Mr. Assil
stated that he is willing to
limit his project to the
renovation of the existing
buildings and their
conversion to 48
condominiums provided the
community backs his request
for a variance on parking.
Los Angeles City requires
1.5 parking spaces per unit
for residential condominium
conversion or a total of 72
spaces for this project.
Currently there are 48
parking spaces. Mr. Assil
indicated that by
reconfiguring the current
parking space he can achieve
an addition 10-12 spaces for
a total of 58-60 spaces.
This would result in a
variance request of 12-14
parking spaces. While this
is less than an ideal
solution, all of those
present believed that it was
a reasonable solution that
accommodates Mr. Assil while
keeping the character of the
neighborhood. Mr. Assil will
be filing for this variance
with the Los Angeles City
planning department. The Mar
Vista Community Council will
be asked to pass a motion at
its monthly meeting in early
September giving agreement
to this proposed variance.
Bill Rosendahl attended the
end of the meeting and
concurred with this
agreement.
The following is the
recommendation that will be
on tomorrow's (Tuesday
August 19) agenda for the
MVCC Urban Planning and Land
Use Committee meeting being
held at 6:00pm at the Mar
Vista Library (12006 Venice
Blvd).
The UP/LU Committee
recommends the Mar Vista
Community Council support
the following compromise
proposal.
1) Mr Assil proposes to
amend his request for
Tentative Tract Map NO.
69349-CN [ENV-2007-2438-MND]
3160-3178 Barrington in
order to convert the 48
units in the buildings
currently on the property,
keeping the original
construction and
character, and turning them
into condominiums.
2) A waiver from the City's
requirement of 1 and one
quarter parking spaces per
unit for residential
condominium conversion
projects, or 60 total sp
aces, plus an additional one
quarter space per dwelling
unit, or 12 spaces, for
guest parking, will be
necessary. (NOTE: Additional
parking spaces (12-14)
beyond the existing 48
spaces will be created by
reconfiguring the existing
enclosed garages and
carports, for a total of 60
to 62 spaces. The resulting
shortfall of parking will be
10 to 12 spaces.)
3) The residential buildings
will not be demolished.
4) Changes to the street and
parkway are not contemplated
as part of the project.
The MVCC believes this
alternative best
accommodates the desires of
the surrounding community
that any
proposed development of this
property respect the
character and scale of the
existing residential
neighborhood.
There are concerns
about the parking waiver as
well as the conversion of
the apartments to
condominiums. There is an
alternative recommendation
being proposed:
General Concern
regarding Loss of Rental
Housing Units
Whereas Mar Vista has lost a
substantial number of rental
housing units as prior
rental units have been
converted to condominiums,
The Urban Planning and Land
Use Committee requests the
Mar Vista Community Council
Board of Directors to send a
letter to the Department of
City Planning stating that
the MVCC prefers that no
additional conversion of
rental units to condominiums
be granted where such
conversions would require
discretionary approvals by
such actions as variances,
tentative track map
amendments, specific plan or
general plan amendments.
This recommendation if
passed would prevent the
negotiated compromise
discussed above. Mr. Assil
could decide to move ahead
with the 92 unit proposal.
My sense is to support the
compromise which includes
the variance on parking. In
my discussions with the
neighbors on Barry the
primary concerns were
privacy, traffic, health,
and safety associated with a
92 unit project. Some
neighbors indicated they
would prefer condominiums
which could have a less
transient occupancy. I
encourage you to reflect on
these proposals and let me
know your preference. I also
encourage you to attend
tomorrow's meeting.
Thanks, Jerry
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