Halt Ordered to Building of Echo Park Apartments

The state Court of Appeal has ordered a temporary halt to construction of a 45-unit apartment complex in the Echo Park district.

The stay will be in effect until the court holds a hearing on an appeal from nearby residents who claim the project violates Los Angeles’ General Plan and would crowd their narrow hillside street.

The apartment building, under construction at 1850 Morton Ave., near the intersection of Echo Park Avenue, has been debated for nearly two years. Its opponents lost their case in Superior Court in September.

The project was started before the city started to bring its zoning maps for the Silver Lake-Echo Park area into conformity with the newer and much more restrictive General Plan, which would allow only a 12-unit building on the site.

Rulings in Superior Court and before city panels held that the builder, Morton Park Associates of Studio City, had already made such a large investment in the project that it would be unfair to order the building scaled down to 12 units. Work resumed on grading and the foundation.

But the Elysian Heights Residents’ Assn. appealed to the 2nd District of the Court of Appeal in Los Angeles, which issued the temporary stay last week. No date has been set for a hearing.

“One reason that we won the stay at this time is that the tide is turning in Los Angeles regarding unplanned growth and speculation,” said Sue Nelson, president of the residents group. “People in Los Angeles are fed up with the destruction of their neighborhoods.”

Neither the developer nor its attorney could be reached for comment.