Planning Board Rejects Zoning Compromise

After months of debate, Brentwood residents, merchants and City Councilman Marvin Braude thought they had hammered out an agreement for building in Brentwood Village--a compromise that King Solomon would love.

But the Los Angeles City Planning Commission rejected the compromise zoning agreement on Thursday, saying it would set a dangerous precedent for commercial zoning in the rest of the city.

Last year, Braude had proposed limiting the square footage of new buildings in the tiny, tree-lined shopping district to three-quarters the size of the lot. Existing zoning allows buildings with floor space up to 1 1/2 times the size of the lot.

Brentwood Chamber of Commerce officials bitterly fought the proposal, arguing during a public hearing in April and in petitions and letters to the city Planning Department that the proposed density reduction would put many existing buildings out of conformance with the new regulations.

Chamber members argued that if an existing building were destroyed by fire, the new zoning would prevent an owner from rebuilding to the same size. They also noted that some of the buildings are about 50 years old, and owners wishing to modernize by demolishing and rebuilding would also be limited by the new zoning.

While Braude, residents and merchants all agreed that they wanted the shopping village, situated along Barrington Avenue south of Sunset Boulevard, to retain its small-town charm, they were at odds over how to accomplish it. When the Planning Department offered a compromise, the groups accepted it.

“It protects the merchants and the village and it’s what the councilman and neighbors would like to see,” Chamber President John Handal said.

The compromise would have limited new building in the shopping district to three-quarters the size of the lot as previously proposed, but it would have allowed existing buildings already larger than that to be rebuilt to their present height and square footage if demolished for any reason.

The city attorney felt this was fair and equitable, said Cindy Miscikowski, Braude’s chief deputy, in her comments to the commission on Thursday.

Everyone, including Braude, the Brentwood Homeowners Assn. and chamber officials, “had the same goal in mind--to preserve the village as we know it,” she said.

“Given the history and longevity of the area, this wording does make sense,” Miscikowski said.

But the commission, by a 5-0 vote, rejected it.

“This is a really dangerous precedent,” Commissioner Theodore Stein Jr. said. He said approval would send a message to owners who are “already built out (to the maximum allowed by zoning) that we’re not going to penalize you, but if you haven’t, we are going to penalize you. I don’t see any basis for a public policy that allows that.”

Reacting to the vote, Brentwood pharmacist Harold Lassoff said the commission wants everything in the city to look the same.

Not allowing exceptions, such as for the owners in Brentwood Village, violates the rights of the individual, he said.

Miscikowski said she did not believe the action would have set a citywide precedent. “It makes sense in this small area.”

She said the compromise is not necessarily dead. It will go before the City Council in about six weeks, and because the proposal was council-initiated, the commission’s decision could be overturned.

Handal said the commission’s action means that the zoning will remain at 1 1/2 times the size of the lot, which the Chamber favors.

“We can work a middle ground,” Handal said. But if the commission and the council can’t agree with the zoning compromise, “they should just leave it alone and quit wasting our time and money.”