Council Clears Way for Museum of Tolerance, Adds Restrictions on Use

The Los Angeles City Council has removed the last procedural obstacle to construction of a Museum of Tolerance on Pico Boulevard in West Los Angeles.

The 10-0 vote Wednesday denied an appeal by local residents who were concerned about noise, traffic and parking problems.

However, the City Council responded to their concerns by endorsing 32 conditions imposed by the Planning Commission in an effort to mitigate the impact of the project.

“We’ll have to live with it for a couple of years, and if it’s a problem, we’ll be back in there to get the conditions amended,” said Susan Gans, president of the Roxbury-Beverwil Homeowners Assn., which was formed after plans for the museum were announced last year.

‘Excited and Delighted’

“We’re excited, we’re delighted,” said Rabbi Mayer May, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which is sponsoring the museum with the help of a $5-million grant from the state of California.

“It’s going to be an outstanding project,” he said.

Plans call for a ground-breaking ceremony Dec. 7, at which an artist’s rendition of the four-story building may be available for public viewing, May said.

Fund-raising activities have been scheduled across the country to raise the last $6 million needed to build the project, May said. Pledges already in hand total $18.5 million, including the state grant, he said.

The museum is intended to commemorate the victims of Nazism in World War II, as well as earlier depredations, including the mass deaths of Armenians during World War I.

Millions Expected

Officials of the Wiesenthal Center, named after the Vienna-based Nazi-hunter, hope to install the latest in electronic technology in order to make the exhibits as effective as possible.

“I think millions will come and see it,” May said.

It was the prospect of masses of visitors that mobilized homeowners to oppose the zoning changes required for a four-story building at the site, which is part of a Pico Boulevard corridor zoned for a height limit of three stories or 45 feet.

After a series of meetings mediated by a staffer from the office of Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, the Planning Commission approved a compromise under which a fourth floor would be allowed in exchange for creation of a garden to separate the museum from the homes immediately to the south.

Limitations Imposed

At Wednesday’s session the City Council voted to allow the Wiesenthal Center to use the garden for public events no more than four times a year. Ten-day notice to the neighborhood association is required before any such event.

Other conditions include the requirement that the museum open no earlier than 10 a.m. and close no later than 5 p.m. on weekdays and that its hours be limited to 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays. It is to be closed on Saturdays.

Nighttime activities are to be limited to 12 a month and can only be held Monday through Thursday. Additionally, the new facility, which is to include a 325-seat auditorium, cannot be used for weddings, bar mitzvahs or any religious service not connected with museum activities.

Off-street parking is also required, and no motor vehicle access is to be provided from residential Roxbury drive except in case of emergency. The approval calls for a review of the conditions by the Planning Commission after two years.