Fox’s Condo Plans and Homeowners

As a plaintiff in the homeowners’ lawsuit charging that an extension of the Fox Studios condominium plan was illegal, I wish to clarify what some, particularly Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, have suggested is an “irrelevant dispute.”

At issue is whether Fox can continue to threaten this community with construction of more than 2,000 high-rise condos if its commercial expansion is rejected. While some may consider it academic and a waste of time, we feel that, aside from its validity, the suit underscores a serious rift between the councilman and his constituents and the degree to which city officials will ignore the needs of the immediate community while claiming to protect them.

Yaroslavsky has repeatedly stated the unimportance of the original condo plans, claiming that condos “will never happen” on his watch. If this is so, he could have opted to support the community’s concern, used his offices to reject the illegal extension and saved the city (and the community) the cost of the suit. Instead he chose to promote a situation which could only have ended up in court.

Further, those in support of the project have claimed that the threatened condos would hurt the many condo owners presently adjacent to the Fox property. They claim the only alternative is to give in to the gross expansion Fox has demanded. Never mentioned is the goal of our lawsuit--the elimination of a huge condo project hanging over neighbors’ heads, and the likely reduction of Fox’s proposed project when all things are finally made equal.

Neighbors have long supported renovation of the Fox property but have understandably balked at the threats and ominous prognostications used to rationalize a huge expansion. The fact that citizens are forced to take expensive legal actions to protect their rights is not only wasteful, but a condemnation of local government. We should all be concerned.

ALLAN RABINOWITZ

Los Angeles