Local News in Brief : Protest Tries to Cast Shadow of a Doubt

It was a novel--if short-lived--way to protest a building.

Paula Achter, a film maker who lives in Santa Monica, led a group of residents in erecting a sculpture to protest a condominium project proposed for 12th Street.

The 40-foot sculpture, made of scaffolding and a tarpaulin, re-created the amount of shadows and darkness that the condos will cast, Achter said.

She said she wanted neighbors to realize how the three-story building would block their daylight so that they would fight the project.

Achter can claim partial success.

“The biggest comment everyone made was, will it really be that big?” she said. “That was exactly the response we wanted to hear.”

But within minutes of finishing the sculpture last weekend in an alley behind the construction site, police arrived to tell Achter she had to take it down.

Achter admits she had failed to obtain a permit for the sculpture. She managed to avoid taking it down, but finally removed it this week, cutting short her planned protest.

The condo project has received unanimous approval from the city’s Planning Commission and goes before the City Council for final approval on Tuesday.