Looking for Clues : L.A. Cancels Developer’s Demolition Permit Until He Tells Plans for Doomed Block

They weren’t investigating a whodunit on Friday at the Scene of the Crime in Sherman Oaks. It was a case of a what’s-he-doing?

Los Angeles officials said they have canceled a demolition permit sought by a developer who wants to tear down the famous mystery bookstore and 14 neighboring shops. They cited what they called a growing mystery over the developer’s plans.

Jama Enterprises has refused to disclose its plans for the 13600 block of Ventura Boulevard to Sherman Oaks residents or municipal officials, City Councilman Michael Woo said.

Woo stood with Sherman Oaks neighborhood leaders in front of the boarded-up bookstore as he announced that he has taken the unusual step of ordering the demolition permit withheld indefinitely until developer Jacky Gamiel reveals information such as his project’s design and size, tenants and impact on traffic and parking.

Development Controls

Asserting that “the real crime here is overdevelopment and insensitivity to the neighborhood,” Woo said Gamiel may be hurrying to avoid the anticipated November adoption of new Ventura Boulevard development controls. As proposed, they would reduce allowable building height at the site from three stories to two.

“He tried sneaking in for the demolition permit,” Woo said. “I consider that a broken promise. He had said there would be no surprises.” He vowed that unless Gamiel relents, “these buildings will not go down . . . as long as I’m here.”

Gamiel, of Beverly Hills, declined to comment Friday. “This matter is being handled by our attorney. Our point of view is being expressed strictly through our attorney,” said a Jama Enterprises spokeswoman, who would not give her name.

Jama attorney Benjamin M. Reznik, who two months ago assured members of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn. that “there is no specific project . . . none exists,” was reported by his office to be on vacation.

At a May 17 homeowners association meeting, however, Reznik denied that Gamiel was racing to beat the boulevard control deadline. “I can only ask you at this point to trust me. We’ll be back with plans and drawings long before permits are pulled,” Reznik said at the time.

Gamiel evicted the Scene of the Crime and other tenants of the 46-year-old row of one-story storefronts this year. The last to go was the 14-year-old bookstore, which closed July 8.

Richard Close, president of the homeowners group, said residents are interested in neighborhood service-oriented stores, not glitzy mini-malls filled with yogurt shops, tanning salons “and trendy restaurants.” He said his neighbors were angry over Jama Enterprises’ pending closure of a Unocal gas station next to Woodman Avenue at the end of the block.

Gas Station Petitions

Gas station operator Jeff Stephan presented Woo with petitions signed by 400 customers. He said Jama Enterprises is pressuring Unocal to immediately close the 48-year-old station, which reportedly has a lease that runs until February.

Homeowner Richard McCurdy gave Woo protest petitions signed by about 700 people. Residents are tired of “arrogance and greed” on the part of developers, he said. “We will not relinquish our community gracefully,” McCurdy said.

Woo told about 25 residents who gathered on the littered sidewalk in front of the empty stores that he will demand that Jama Enterprises keep the storefronts neat and clean and free of transients while the demolition permit is delayed.

He urged residents to be watchful and notify the city of any signs of illegal demolition work. Once the empty buildings are torn down, the city will be unable to block new construction, Woo said.

Some homeowners expressed dismay that the stores will be allowed to stand empty, however. “To me, Woo is making a mistake by holding these buildings hostage,” said Maurice Cutler, a resident who for 10 years operated a gourmet cookshop out of one of the now-empty storefronts. “This is a blight. It invites outside elements to the area.”

But neighbor Chuck Betz disagreed that the empty buildings should be demolished. If Jama Enterprises is kept from building a shopping center, it may decide to sell the storefronts to someone who will re-rent them, he said.

“If someone else buys them, maybe these little businesses can be reorganized,” Betz said, gazing wistfully at the empty Scene of the Crime shop.

In its window, a sign announced that the bookstore will soon reopen at the Wiltern Building in Los Angeles. Bookstore owner Ruth Windfeldt said goodby to booming Ventura Boulevard with a quotation from mystery writer Raymond Chandler’s novel, “The Little Sister.”

“I smelled Los Angeles before I got to it. It smelled stale and old, like a living room that had been closed too long . . . .”