Neighborhood Group Sues to Block Clinic

A Hollywood neighborhood association announced Monday that it has sued the city of Los Angeles to halt the opening of a mental health clinic.

The lawsuit by the Vine Street Area Improvement Assn. charges the city’s zoning commission with violating its own requirement that a mental health clinic not be placed within 600 feet of a school. Last year, the zoning commission approved a variance that allows the relocation of one of the county’s largest mental health clinics.

The commission also approved a variance allowing the clinic fewer parking spaces than normally required. The suit asks the court to set aside the variances.

The building at 1224 N. Vine St. is to offer services to the mentally ill, homeless teenagers and AIDS patients. Some residents and business owners complain that the area is already inundated with agencies that offer similar services.

Ron Hansen, a deputy for county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, said officials “are going to do everything possible to make this program and the people who work there good neighbors.”