Local News in Brief : Factory Decision Delayed

Faced with a dilemma pitting neighborhood preservation against jobs, the Los Angeles City Council ended an emotional, two-hour debate Tuesday by putting off for one month a decision concerning the fate of a garment factory in hopes that a resolution would emerge.

More than 100 neighborhood residents organized by the South Central Organizing Committee had urged the council to kill the rezoning plan that would allow the Kluger Co., an expanding garment business, to move into a low-income enclave of homes northeast of USC. Residents argued that the factory was incompatible with their neighborhood.

Although similar, more extensive zone changes had been rejected twice by the Planning Commission, Councilman Gilbert Lindsay, whose district includes the the neighborhood, fought to keep the issue alive. Factory owner Ben Kluger said that if his operation isn’t able to move into the neighborhood, he would move it from existing quarters in the garment district to Orange County. About 100 workers would be unable to follow, he said.

In the end, the council directed Linday’s office to discuss alternative industrial sites nearby. After 1 1/2 years of controversy over the proposed zone change, both sides expressed skepticism that a solution will be found.