STUDIO CITY : Residents Challenge Height of Condos

A group of homeowners fighting a Studio City development has called for a legal opinion to decide what height limitations apply to the project.

The request was made by Tony Lucente, president of the Studio City Residents Assn., about a 21-unit condominium complex under construction on Laurelwood Drive near Carpenter Avenue.

Officials from the Department of Building and Safety and the office of Los Angeles City Councilman Joel Wachs investigated the project last month and found it to be in compliance with zoning regulations.

But Lucente has asserted that under the original permit to build, granted in 1988, the development was placed under more severe restrictions than those mandated under city zoning codes. “City code shouldn’t apply here,” Lucente said. “Because there were conditions placed on the project in 1988.”

The document places a 35-foot height limit on half of the complex and a 45-foot cap on the remainder.

If measured from the curb, building and safety officials said, the complex would exceed these height limits and local zoning ordinances, but if measured from the grade of the hill--as is standard practice--it does not.

Lucente said work should be stopped because he believes the developer is speeding up construction in order to make it more difficult to place height regulations on the structure.

Tom Henry, planning deputy for Wachs, said Wednesday he would try to honor the request.

“The councilman will be happy to ask the city attorney to make an interpretation,” Henry said. “And if we have the legal authority to stop construction, then we will do so.” But the developer said he is sure the project satisfies all relevant building and zoning requirements, and denied any construction speedup.

“We aren’t speeding up anything. This is the normal course of construction,” said Ajit Mithaiwala, president of Ajit Development and Investment Inc. “We have done everything within the law. We have nothing to hide.”