Bradley Enters Dispute Over Parking for Hotel

Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley inserted himself into the festering Westside controversy over parking at the new Ma Maison Sofitel Hotel on Tuesday, and he used the opportunity to criticize his likely election rival, Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky.

Bradley didn’t actually take sides in the 3-year-old dispute Tuesday, but said he will ask city zoning officials to close a loophole that allowed the hotel to be built before hearings on a liquor license and minimum parking were finished.

The $50-million luxury hotel is under construction across from the Beverly Center shopping mall in a neighborhood where residents complain about traffic and parking. The hotel is scheduled to open in October.

Residents failed to stop the hotel’s construction with the argument that it would worsen traffic and parking. They moved then to hold up the awarding of a liquor license for the hotel and its two restaurants unless the developer, Sheldon Gordon, agreed to build a second parking garage.

Gordon, a contributor to Bradley campaigns, insisted that there would be sufficient parking in the hotel’s underground garage. The City Council decided in favor of Gordon, and the liquor license application is pending before the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

Bradley on Tuesday said the city codes should be changed to require that hotel developers obtain a conditional-use permit to serve liquor--a lengthy process that requires public hearings--before the city authorizes construction. (The conditional-use permit from the city is needed before the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control will issue a liquor license). If the hotel developer did not apply for the city permit, Bradley would require a contract promising not to serve alcohol for five years.

By holding a press conference at the hotel construction site, Bradley took advantage of the chance to skewer Yaroslavsky, who represents the area and has also come under fire from some residents for not forcing the hotel to accommodate more parking.

Bradley said Tuesday that the councilman could have done more to exert control over the hotel project. He said Yaroslavsky had the opportunity to protect the neighborhood but failed, and urged homeowners not to let Yaroslavsky “fool you (or) mislead you.”

Yaroslavsky has always contended that the city zoning code gave Gordon a free hand to build the hotel. However, when the issue of the liquor license was raised, Yaroslavsky crafted restrictions passed by the City Council that require Gordon to limit his customers and lease parking space in nearby lots.

Approval Faulted

Yaroslavsky hit back at Bradley on Tuesday, complaining that the mayor’s Board of Zoning Appeals approved the Ma Maison permit without question, and that the Planning Commission, also named by Bradley, recently approved an expansion of the controversial Westside Pavillion.

In July, 1987, Bradley fell into step with the city’s leading homeowner organizations and ordered sweeping new rules that required environmental reviews of most large construction projects. Bradley ordered the new rules after the city lost a lawsuit by Westwood homeowners that was brought to encourage more environmental review of big developments.

However, those rules did not include the provision sought by Bradley on Tuesday requiring that a city permit to serve alcohol be obtained before construction.

The action Tuesday marked the first time that Bradley became involved in the Ma Maison issue. But an aide said Tuesday that the mayor refused to say if he feels the hotel has enough parking or should be given a liquor license.

Nonetheless, some homeowners joined the mayor Tuesday to voice support for the new policy. It also won the support of some members of Friends of Westwood, the homeowner organization that had sued the city over the lack of environmental reviews.

As a result of the homeowners’ objections, Ma Maison may still be forced to open without serving alcohol. An administrative law judge is expected to issue an opinion within the next few weeks on whether the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control should issue the disputed liquor license. Even if the department decides to issue the license, it could be months before spirits flow at Ma Maison, because an appeal by the homeowners would hold up the license until after a second public hearing, a department official said.