Bid to Change Zoning on Ocean Front Walk Goes to Venice Panel

A controversial request to allow commercial businesses to operate on a residential stretch of Ocean Front Walk in Venice is scheduled to go before the Los Angeles Planning Commission today.

Steven M. Blanchard, a Venice property owner, is seeking permission to lease commercial space on the ground floors of three buildings in the 500 block of Ocean Front Walk. The action, which would affect a two-block area bounded by Dudley and Sunset courts, is supported by neighboring property owners.

Blanchard contends that he is within his rights in seeking to lease the space. However, some residents contend that the conversion would violate the community plan and subject the area to increased noise and congestion.

Steven Schlein of the Sunset Avenue Neighborhood Assn. has been working against Blanchard’s application for more than a year.

Zoning Code Violations

Schlein said that Blanchard has knowingly violated zoning codes by leasing space for businesses on his properties without permits. He has produced documents showing the Blanchard and one of his tenants have been cited for violating zoning codes.

Schlein, who has turned in signatures from 500 people who oppose Blanchard’s request, argued that Ocean Front Walk is already short of housing.

“Blanchard has destroyed housing, and maintenance of housing is an objective of the community plan,” Schlein said. “The area is already highly residential. He has no God-given right to conduct business there.”

Blanchard called Schlein’s charges unfounded. He said that he and other property owners along the two-block stretch that would be affected by the change are simply pursuing their rights under city law.

Blanchard conceded that he had been cited for zoning violations, but he said the citations were unfair since he was in the process of obtaining permits.

Increasing Commercialization

Blanchard’s properties are located at 511, 517 and 523 Ocean Front Walk, a one-mile pedestrian street that has become increasingly commercialized in recent years. The first building is a three-story residential structure. The second is a courtyard apartment. The third is a turn-of-the-century house.

Planning officials, who will consider Blanchard’s request for a special exemption when they meet in Van Nuys today, say the case is complicated because zoning and community planning regulations are contradictory.

The city’s comprehensive zoning ordinance lists the properties as commercial, or C1. The general plan, which supersedes the zoning ordinance, defines the area as residential, or R3. And the Venice local coastal plan, which has not been formally adopted, suggests a mixture of commercial and residential.

The Planning Commission’s ruling on the case is subject to City Council approval. If the exemption is granted, property owners in that area would be permitted to operate businesses on the ground floors of their buildings. The upper floors would remain residential.

One of Blanchard’s major supporters is Los Angeles City Councilwoman Pat Russell, who represents the Venice area. Russell said the current zoning law is unfair because the area that contains Blanchard’s three buildings is a residential island surrounded by commercially zoned property.