Height at Issue : Neighbors to Help Redesign Complex
There goes the neighborhood.
That’s what residents of one Studio City street thought when a developer announced plans for a condominium project on their block.
The builder wanted to tear down an old house and some rear apartments and bulldoze the hill beneath them.
Where the hill had been, he envisioned a subterranean garage. Above that, he hoped to construct a 3-story, 21-unit townhouse complex.
The finished condos would have luxury interiors and stylish exteriors. The developer figured they’d be a standout in the aging Studio City neighborhood.
But nervous homeowners decided that the townhouses would stand out too much.
As a result, residents along hilly Laurelwood Drive south of Ventura Boulevard have formed an unusual alliance with the developer.
On Tuesday, , they will meet to help the builder and his architect redesign the $4.5-million condo project to be more compatible with their single-family, predominantly single-story, 40-year-old homes.
Developer Paul K. Moulder said his firm is willing to scale down the project, even though it may cost as much as $400,000 to do it.
“We want it to fit in better in the community,” Moulder said. “We want a good response from the community.”
The developer’s response has pleased Studio City residents--many of whom have clashed with builders over such issues as density, parking, traffic congestion and aesthetics.
Previous Battles
A year ago, Studio City homeowners joined with neighbors from Sherman Oaks to force a developer to redesign a glitzy Rodeo Drive-style shopping center planned behind Dickens Street homes. He agreed to scale it back and give it more of a suburban look after Los Angeles Councilman Michael Woo joined the fray. The redesigned shopping center was stripped of a proposed chrome and marble exterior and an unusual metal “space frame” and instead will feature stucco and canvas awnings.
Late last year, a dispute over a Tujunga Avenue apartment project led to a fist fight between construction workers and Studio City homeowners. Residents eventually turned to Los Angeles Councilman John Ferraro for help in halting the project and forcing the developer to reduce its size.
Earlier this year, Studio City residents went to court in hopes of forcing a developer to lower the height of a Fairway Avenue office building under construction. Although the hillside homeowners contend that the building violates city rules and cuts off their view of the San Fernando Valley, their attempts failed.
Alarm over the Laurelwood Drive condominium project was raised when Los Angeles city planning officials conducted a routine environmental review hearing a few weeks ago.
Polly Ward, president of the Studio City Residents Assn., told officials that her group approved of the demolition of the graffiti-scarred abandoned apartments to make way for the condominiums. She warned, however, that residents were worried about the impact of the condos on the neighborhood.
Action Delayed
Officials agreed to postpone action on the project until Wednesday to give Moulder time to discuss it with homeowners.
He got an earful when he showed up at a residents association meeting last week with his development partners, architects and landscapers in tow.
Homeowners vigorously protested the 4-story look of the condos--particularly the front part that would tower above Laurelwood Drive.
“It will look right into my home,” said Frank Havey, who lives opposite Moulder’s project site.
Landscape designer Lauren Melendrez explained that special landscaping and such things as planters and a mock stream would be placed in front of the condos, which will peak at about 45 feet above the street.
“That seems to me to be something that would be really effective with a 2-story building,” instead of with a 4-floor structure, said Katie Row, one of Havey’s neighbors.
“Everybody’s against a 45-foot-tall condo,” Laurelwood resident Yefim Yankilevich said. “It would kill all our property values. We’d all lose our privacy.”
Moulder said his company, Stone & Stone of Los Angeles, has city permission to build up to 24 apartments on the site. Because of its proximity to Ventura Boulevard, the north side of Laurelwood Place has been zoned for multiple-family housing for years.
The south side of Laurelwood is designated for single-family homes, however.
“We felt condos would fit in with the neighborhood better,” Moulder said. He told the 40 residents attending the meeting that his firm favors townhouses for the site--even though condominiums require an additional city subdivision permit and need more parking spaces than apartments.
Neighbor’s Suggestion
Plans for Tuesday’s negotiation session were set in motion with a recommendation from Laurelwood resident Bryan Spangle.
He suggested that Moulder lower the building by moving the front third-floor townhouse unit.
“Why not take that Laurelwood unit and move it to the rear. Put it on top back there overlooking Ventura Boulevard and the city lights and call it a ‘penthouse unit,’ ” Spangle said.
Moulder replied that such a plan might irritate the owners of property next to the back of his site. It would also require a special height limit waiver from the city.
Instead, he said after the residents association meeting, he and his partners may opt during Tuesday’s meeting to eliminate the top front unit altogether.
Doing that would reduce the project size to 20 units and cost his firm about $350,000 in sales profits from the missing condo, he said. It could also lead to substantial costs in redesigning the project to accommodate such things as elevator shafts, he said.
Ward said homeowners are prepared to fight the project if a compromise cannot be reached on Tuesday.
“That would be a shame,” Ward said last week.
Moulder said he understands why Studio City residents are taking such a hard line.
“They have had problems in the past,” he said. “I just wish I could apologize for 50 years of poor planning in this city.
“When we started, we had no idea there was such a strong Studio City homeowners community. Now we know.”
