Developer Sues Over Permit to Raze Buildings : Ventura Boulevard: A builder says his project has been blocked because of neighborhood complaints and a city councilman’s intervention.

A developer whose proposed Ventura Boulevard project would replace the Scene of the Crime bookstore and other Sherman Oaks landmarks has filed suit against the city, charging he has been denied a demolition permit for political reasons.

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Ventura Woodman Plaza Ltd. claimed a permit has been improperly withheld since last year because of neighborhood opposition and the intervention of Councilman Michael Woo.

As a result, the suit claims, efforts to knock down empty buildings and start cleaning the site of a former gasoline station are being delayed.

The proposed $15-million to $20-million retail and office complex would fill the block between Woodman and Ventura Canyon avenues on the south side of Ventura Boulevard.

It would contain about 85,000 square feet, replacing a single-level row of small businesses, including the popular bookstore, which were gradually evicted last year before owner-developer Jacky Gamliel’s plans were unveiled.

“They’re not giving us a demolition permit for political reasons,” attorney Benjamin M. Reznik said Thursday.

Judith McCurdy, a spokeswoman for the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn., said the builder’s eagerness to raze a block of empty shops is a tactic to get construction under way before zoning regulations change.

A proposed update of Ventura Boulevard’s specific plan would limit buildings in the project’s area to two stories instead of three, directly affecting Ventura Woodman’s plans for a three-story structure.

Under review for many years, the proposed zoning changes have finally reached the city attorney’s office, the last step before they are submitted to the City Council for final approval.

“What he’s trying to do is get vested in that property so he doesn’t have to come under the specific plan,” McCurdy said. “It’s a brilliant, tactical maneuver on his part.”

Diana Brueggemann, a field representative for Woo, said the developer is not entitled to a demolition permit until there is a full environmental review of the new project--a claim disputed in the lawsuit.

“Our feeling is the city is in a good position and we’re hopeful the judge agrees,” said Brueggemann, adding that the project’s design is incompatible with the neighborhood.

Brueggemann said the city still must decide whether the project requires an environmental impact report.

Earlier this month, a preliminary traffic report was rejected by the city and sent back to the developer for more study, said transportation planner Jerry Overland.

The rejected report claimed traffic would be unaffected, according to Overland and McCurdy, who said the contention “defies anyone’s imagination.”

The homeowners group, which wants the building limited to two levels, is about to begin soliciting donations to fund a traffic study of its own, McCurdy said.