No Study, No Permit, Mini-Mall Builder Told

The developer of a controversial mini-mall proposed for Pacific Palisades will be denied a building permit unless he prepares an environmental impact report that addresses a long list of community concerns, a city planning review panel ruled this week.

Citing numerous problems with traffic, noise, parking and the site of the proposed shopping center, near a crowded intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Entrada Drive, the Los Angeles Board of Zoning Appeals voted 3 to 0 Tuesday to withhold a permit unless developer Lee Benchay agrees to do a study that would exceed the scope of a city traffic study already finished.

“I have to tell you that this is a malignant corner and that this is a malignant area, and that this project doesn’t belong there at this point in time,” said Ilene Olansky, a member of the appeals board. “I’m not about to fine-tune it. . . . I’d throw the whole thing out.”

The board specifically objected to the city study, which gave Entrada Drive the worst possible rating. Paradoxically, the city study concluded that the project would not significantly worsen traffic in the area because congestion was so bad already.

Much Traffic, No Change

The city study estimated that the development would generate 2,000 additional car trips per day, but concluded that this would cause little discernible change. Cindy Miscikowski, planning deputy for City Councilman Marvin Braude, told the board that the traffic report “defies common sense.”

More than a dozen residents, representing numerous homeowner groups in the area, also testified during the three-hour hearing that the project was inappropriate for Entrada Drive, which is used as a main thoroughfare by hemmed-in Santa Monica Canyon dwellers.

The area is packed by beach-goers on sunny days and is the only southern entrance onto Pacific Coast Highway for many Palisades residents, several homeowners said. The property owners also said the mall’s design does not fit the rural nature of the area.

“This project is more appropriate for a boulevard like San Vicente or Ventura,” said Laura Ziskin, a member of the neighborhood coalition that has been fighting the project for two years.

Earlier this year, the city zoning administrator approved the project but turned down Benchay’s request for a late-night restaurant that the developer considered the cornerstone of the project. As a result, both sides appealed the decision, and the developer modified the restaurant concept--he is now pressing for a restaurant that would close a few hours earlier.

The project originated as a 137,000-square-foot-development, including a 48-unit residential complex, and has gradually been whittled down to fit the neighborhood. However, recent negotiations between the homeowner groups and the developer failed to bridge the gap between his current design, calling for a 24,000-square-foot mall, and their proposal for a 17,000 square-foot mall without a restaurant of any kind.

On Tuesday, representatives for the developer agreed to cut back the hours of the mall’s proposed restaurant, but continued to press for its approval, saying it was needed to make the project viable.

Lyn Heacox, a planning consultant on the project, told the panel that Benchay has dropped his plans for subterranean parking, increased the building setbacks and eliminated the complex’s third story to make the mini-mall more appropriate for the area.

“This project has just been squeezed to the bone,” the developer’s attorney, Dale J. Goldsmith, told the board. “We don’t have any more concessions to give up. Our backs are against the wall.”

Board member Joseph D. Mandel objected, saying there was no evidence that it would be economically unfeasible for Benchay to scale down the project. But, he added, he was “unconvinced by both sides” and suggested that the developer prepare an environmental impact report and return it to the board for further review.

However, John Murdoch, the attorney for the homeowners, said that unless the developer agrees to make significant reductions, the residents will continue to oppose the project.

“Before, this (project) would be like having an aircraft carrier parked in Marina del Rey,” he said. “Now, it’s like having the Queen Mary entering the marina. This project is still too large for the site.”