Pact With Developer a Long Shot Ahead of Westwood Project Vote

With just two days left to pound out a compromise on a controversial $100-million complex in Westwood Village, merchants and residents said Tuesday that sharp differences remained between them and developer Alan Casden.

The Los Angeles Planning Commission is expected to vote Thursday on the Palazzo Westwood project. That vote was postponed from Feb. 12, when the panel, faced with opposition from Councilman Jack Weiss and homeowner groups, gave the sides time to come to terms.

In the meantime, Weiss’ office has set up meetings between Casden’s representatives and various Westwood merchants and residents.

The Westwood activists proposed a compromise that would allow Casden to build far more residential units in exchange for reducing the project’s overall size, preserving Glendon Manor (an apartment building dating to the village’s early days) and keeping open Glendon Avenue during construction.

But on March 3 they sent an e-mail to Joseph Klein, president of the Planning Commission, telling him talks were off. The e-mail said activists had presented a “reasonable compromise” but found Casden’s side “not only unwilling to budge, but reneging on past concessions.”

Opponents continued Tuesday to say the complex of apartments and shops would be too large and a planned closing of Glendon Avenue during construction could doom small businesses and worsen traffic.

“Our main concern is square footage,” said Sandy Brown, president of Holmby-Westwood Property Owners Assn. “Clearly, we’re not on the same page.”

Howard Katz, vice president of Casden Properties, said he had worked hard to satisfy the concerns of Westwood businesses and homeowners. Katz said he had also been assured of support from Jay Handal, president of the West Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce.

Handal has said chamber members would support closing Glendon Avenue for as long as a year, assuming Casden provided valet parking and rerouted construction trucks to Tiverton Avenue. Opponents countered that such a switch would never pass muster with city officials, since Tiverton is the emergency route to UCLA Medical Center.

Many merchants also said angrily that Handal had no authority to represent them.

“The merchants right there on Glendon are genuinely concerned they will not survive,” said Jeffrey Abell, a veteran jeweler in the village.

If the Planning Commission approves the project in some form, as expected, the project would go before the City Council. Weiss has vowed to oppose it.

The commission vote comes against a volatile political backdrop. In November, Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley said he was investigating whether Casden had laundered campaign contributions to politicians. The Los Angeles County Grand Jury did not indict Casden, but did indict an executive from his company and 13 Casden subcontractors on charges of conspiring to dole out illegal campaign donations.

Among those receiving contributions, Cooley said, were the city attorney and two members of the council, including Weiss.