Woman Drops Objection to Temple After an Offer to Buy House

A Sepulveda woman dropped her effort to have a Buddhist temple in her neighborhood closed Tuesday after a couple who worship at the temple offered to buy her house.

Lois Kaplan, who lives across the street from the Buddhist Meditation Center, had asked the Board of Zoning Appeals to overturn a November ruling that allowed the 6-year-old temple to continue operating in a converted home at 9250 Columbus Ave. She said the temple was depressing property values and bringing in too much traffic and noise.

Nevertheless, Kaplan failed to show up at a hearing on her appeal Tuesday, prompting the appeals board to dismiss the case.

Reached at her home later, Kaplan said she had decided not to pursue her complaint because Thuy and Tuan Nguyen of Canoga Park offered Monday to buy her house and made a deposit toward the purchase.

“At that point, my feeling was, I’m going to move out of the neighborhood, and, if all the neighbors want them, then I don’t care,” Kaplan said.

‘Wanted to Help Out’

Thuy Nguyen said she and her husband are buying the house because “we wanted to help out the meditation center. I thought, if we bought it, there would be no more problem.”

Nguyen said the couple had not told others at the center, the only one for Vietnamese Buddhists in the San Fernando Valley, about the purchase agreement. “If God knows, that’s enough,” she said.

Kaplan filed an appeal in December to a ruling by Jon Perica, a Los Angeles zoning administrator who approved a permit allowing the center to continue operating indefinitely. The center was granted an initial, two-year permit in 1985.

Perica’s ruling came after impassioned support from neighbors. “I was convinced that there is an extreme amount of support in the community,” Perica said.

Kaplan was the only voice of dissent. She said the temple violated zoning in the neighborhood and also expressed concern that it would expand by buying out other homes in the area.

Nguyen said she and her husband are buying Kaplan’s house as an investment. They intend to rent it and continue living in their existing home, she said.

Commission Donated

But Kaplan said the Nguyens told her they intended to donate the house to the center for use by those who live at the center and for visitors. She said the real estate agent handling the sale also is Buddhist, and he told her he would donate his commission.

After dismissing the appeal Tuesday, the board granted a request to increase the number of worshipers allowed at the center from 45 to 64. Perica had reduced the maximum from 64 in response to Kaplan’s concerns about excessive traffic.

In a separate decision, the appeals board voted against requiring a review of the permit every 10 years. Board member James D. Lewong said he sees “no real need to put these people under further scrutiny.”