Foes May Appeal : Parking-Lot Plan OKd for Encino Residential Zone

The president of an Encino homeowners group said Friday that his organization probably will appeal the decision of a Los Angeles zoning administrator allowing an Encino synagogue to buy and demolish nine homes backing up to a new office building on Ventura Boulevard.

The synagogue, Valley Beth Shalom, wants to use the nine lots, in the 15800 block of Moorpark Street, for a 288-car parking lot. The nine homeowners say they want to sell because the homes have been made unlivable by the massive, six-story Fujita Corp. building nearing completion.

Homeowners on the north side of Moorpark and on nearby streets, however, have strongly opposed the removal of homes for a parking lot. They say it will aggravate traffic congestion and set a precedent for the encroachment of commercial development into residential streets north of Ventura Boulevard.

‘Cancerous’ Conversion

“This kind of conversion is going to be cancerous to Encino,” said Gerald Silver, president of Homeowners of Encino.

Normally, a parking lot can only be built in an area zoned for commercial use or parking. The area in dispute is in a residential zone.

After a hearing in City Hall, Zoning Administrator William Lillenberg granted a conditional use permit Thursday to Valley Beth Shalom to convert the lots.

Lillenberg attached 16 conditions to the permit. Among them were requirements that the parking lot not have a driveway onto Moorpark Street, be closed at 10 p.m. and be surrounded by a six-foot wall.

Lillenberg said he hopes the stipulations will lessen any harmful effects on other houses in the neighborhood.

Lillenberg’s decision can be appealed to the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals and, if that is unsuccessful, to the City Council.

Although he favors appealing, Silver said he wants to see a copy of the zoning administrator’s ruling before Homeowners of Encino decides whether to do so.