WEST LOS ANGELES : Residents’ Group Protests High-Rise Plan

A coalition of residents is fuming over a proposal to build a 28-story structure at Wilshire Boulevard and Barrington Avenue, on a site they say is overdeveloped.

The owner and developer of the site, Barrington Plaza Ltd., wants to tear down the two-story commercial building at 11704 Wilshire Blvd. and replace it with a structure containing 335 apartments, retail and restaurant space, recreational facilities and a multilevel parking garage for tenants.

But opponents of the plan--who include some tenants living in the adjacent Barrington Plaza apartment towers, nearby residents and community activists--argue the new building would worsen traffic along an already congested Wilshire Boulevard, lower property values, obstruct views and drive residents away.

“There’s no sense to this except greed,” said Nita Rosenfeld, a member of the Brentwood Federation who lives near Barrington Plaza. “It’s been a very happy place for seniors and those with moderate incomes.”

Many of Barrington Plaza’s tenants are elderly. The developer plans to set aside 67 apartment units as affordable housing for older residents, according to Barrington Plaza Ltd. spokeswoman Billie Greer.

When the Barrington Plaza towers were built in the early 1960s, the structures were the area’s largest housing development. The need for moderate-income housing in the Westside prompted the city planning department to approve the project.

Because the new building would be three stories taller than the tallest of the Barrington Plaza towers, the developer must obtain zoning and density variances before construction can begin.

Greer said the project would provide the city with much-needed housing and create jobs. The project also includes street and traffic improvements at the Wilshire and Barrington intersection, so automobile congestion would actually ease, she said.

Los Angeles City Councilman Marvin Braude opposes the project, agreeing with critics that the new apartment building would add to congestion in the area. Braude’s chief deputy, Cindy Miscikowski, said there are other areas nearby that could be developed without a need for variances.

Miscikowski said that if the developer gets the requested zone and density changes, “it will be much harder to argue when the next guy wants to come in and do the same thing.”

Barrington Plaza Ltd. may have already won the first round of the battle, however. Despite opposition from Braude and a planning commission staff report disapproving the developer’s requests, commissioners voted 3 to 1 last month to recommended approval of the density and zoning changes. The planning commission must finalize and adopt its final staff report on the project before the matter can be considered by the City Council. Action on the report is expected June 30.

Jon Shaughnessy of the West Los Angeles Community Organization, a local neighborhood group, is mobilizing residents to fight the plan. His group has collected more than 100 letters addressed to Mayor Richard Riordan denouncing the project.