LINCOLN HEIGHTS : Buddhists Seek to Use Building as Temple
A proposal by the Ming Ya Buddhist Foundation of Los Angeles to convert a vacant industrial building on Valley Boulevard into a temple is getting favorable reviews from the city zoning staff, but final approval for a permit has not been granted. A hearing for the conditional-use permit was conducted before Zoning Administrator Walter J. Gibson.
The proposal calls for turning a third of the space into a sanctuary, with 189 fixed seats and 115 parking spaces. The foundation proposes to landscape unused portions of the nearly three-acre property at 4371 Valley Blvd. The former home of the Roscoe Moss Co. is a one-story, 45,188-square-foot building. The foundation would lease the property from Thomas & Betts Corp.
City code requires a permit because the building lies within the area covered by the city’s Northeast General Plan and is zoned for commercial use. City code also requires that one parking space be provided for every five fixed seats, giving the temple more than the necessary 38 parking spaces.
In an evaluation of the property and the temple’s proposal, Gibson wrote that a church or temple is needed to assist the area’s changing population in the general vicinity of Wilson High School.
Gibson also concluded that the temple would add security and maintenance to the vacant commercial manufacturing buildings along Valley Boulevard now being offered for sale or lease.
Planning consultant Don Chapman, who represents the Ming Ya Buddhist Foundation, did not return calls.
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