Official Rejects Proposal to Raze Bowling Alley

A Los Angeles planning officer on Monday rejected a plan to tear down a bowling alley in Eagle Rock and replace it with a self-storage business, saying that proponents had not convinced him that another self-serve storage business was needed in the area.

The decision by associate zoning administrator Daniel Green came after a two-hour City Hall hearing during which opponents said there are 37 self-storage businesses within a five-mile radius of the All Star Lanes bowling alley on Eagle Rock Boulevard, which has been in business there since 1960.

Within that same distance, they said, there was only one other bowling alley.

“I’m ecstatic with the decision,” said one Eagle Rock resident, Manuel Montano, 39, who argued that All Star Lanes -- where he has bowled since he was a teenager -- was an important recreation outlet in the community.

Members of several community groups, including the Eagle Rock Assn., the Glassell Park Improvement Assn. and the Historic Highland Park Neighborhood Council, said they opposed the storage proposal. Representatives for Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg (D-Los Angeles) and area Councilman Nick Pacheco said the lawmakers also opposed it.

The project’s architect, Bruce Jordan, questioned the figure of 37 storage businesses. “Not all of them fit the definition of a self-storage business,” he said. He said there is a demonstrated need for a new storage business.

The bowling alley’s owner since 1980, Said Simantob, argued that the bowling alley has been losing money since the mid-1990s and that the $2.2-million offer for the site by Extra Space Storage of Salt Lake City was the only viable one for the property.

The offer “was enough for us to kiss it good-bye,” Simantob said at the hearing.

Several nearby residents favored the bowling alley’s demolition, citing a variety of late-night trouble: loud patrons, public urination, late-night skateboarding, fighting and the foul odor from the bowling alley’s trash cans.

“There isn’t a weekend that I get a complete night of sleep,” said Donna Campbell, a resident manager of the nearby Villa Piedra senior citizens apartments.

Supporters said they had collected the signatures of about 100 area residents, who favored demolition.

Opponents, however, said they had petitions with nearly 1,700 signatures. They rallied earlier in the day at the bowling alley, saying that it represented an important part of Eagle Rock’s diverse community.

“I heard about it about a month ago and my immediate reaction was to throw up my hands and say, ‘No way,’ ” Montano said.

Even the co-owner of a Montessori pre-school and elementary school, Noeline Shanmugan, stopped by for a few minutes to support the bowling alley’s survival.

“We encourage it to stay here,” she said.

In rendering his decision, Green said he could not grant a conditional-use permit for a new three-story structure, noting that zoning in the northeast area allows buildings no higher than two stories -- 30 feet in height.

Apparently swayed by the over-saturation argument, Green concluded that supporters had “not presented a convincing case for a need” for a new storage building.

Jordan, the architect, said Simantob and others would consider their options before deciding whether to appeal. They have four weeks to appeal.