Alatorre Alerts 1,400 : Battle of the Eagle Rock Heating Up

A developer who is buying a 50-foot boulder from which the community of Eagle Rock gets its name is moving ahead with plans to build a 20-unit apartment building nearby.

Earlier this month, Los Angeles city planners told developer Kenneth Bank that the basic environmental aspects of his plans for the property that includes the rock meet city standards.

The plans, which call for a two-story apartment building and a 43-space parking lot on a strip of land beside Eagle Rock View Avenue, have angered residents who say the apartment building would partly obscure the landmark boulder, which is perched above the Ventura Freeway near Figueroa Street.

Councilman Richard Alatorre, who opposes the development, Tuesday mailed 1,400 letters to Eagle Rock residents warning of Bank’s plans for the 2 1/2-acre property at Eagle Rock View Drive and Patrician Way.

Zone Change Fight

“Richard’s going to do everything he can to keep the developer from getting the zone change,” Alatorre’s spokesman Brad Sales said. “He’s going to have to deal with the fact that the rock is a prized piece of Eagle Rock.”

Bank says the development would not obscure the boulder, and has offered to give the city 65% of the rock itself, along with some nearby land for use as a park if the city grants him the change in zoning for the project.

Since the rock is a city landmark, any building plans must also be approved by the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission.

“My plans won’t block the Eagle Rock, not a smidgen,” Bank said. “Obviously somebody thinks this situation is a lot more delicate than it really is.”

Quest for Variance

The environmental assessment Bank requested from the city in December is the first step in seeking the zoning variance and change to the Northeast General Plan he needs to build the project.

The property is presently zoned for single-family homes.

Bank is in escrow to buy the property that includes the Eagle Rock, and plans to build two homes there in addition to the apartment building.

At the community meeting in August, Alatorre and residents voiced concern that a development on the property, slightly southeast of the Eagle Rock, would obstruct views of the imposing granite boulder which nature has sculpted into a form resembling an eagle.

“Apparently he just didn’t get the message,” Alatorre’s spokesman Sales said of Banks.

“Why should the city give a zone change to something that would interfere with the natural beauty of the landmark?”

The Eagle Rock was declared a historical monument in 1962 by the city’s Cultural Heritage Board but was not acquired by the city, officials said.