CommentsPIECEMEALING IN HOLLYWOOD-If you've ever been involved in the approval process for a project in your neighborhood, you know it can be a long and complicated ordeal. Developers, city officials and citizens can spend years arguing over various issues, but there are good reasons to review everything carefully.
Once the building is up, it will probably stand for decades, and community members should want to make sure that it will be an asset instead of a liability. That's why state law requires that developers disclose all the details of a proposed project, and that's why people who live in the area are given a chance to weigh in. This way all stakeholders have a chance to look everything over carefully, and everybody knows what they're getting.
Unfortunately, that's not always true in the City of Los Angeles.
Back in 2015 a developer started the approval process for a hotel that would be built at the corner of Cahuenga and De Longpre in Hollywood. The application said it would have about 175 rooms, around 5,000 square feet of restaurant space, and 600 square feet of retail space. The project description included meeting rooms, fitness rooms, a bar/lounge, and a pool terrace. An environmental assessment was prepared, the City signed off on it, and it seemed like a done deal.
But really it wasn't.
Late last year I got a hearing notice for this same project. Turns out the owner was asking for some pretty substantial changes. They wanted to reduce the amount of restaurant and retail space in exchange for more hotel rooms, raising the total from 175 to 220. In addition, they wanted to have an open courtyard on the third floor, and the bar/lounge had become a rooftop lounge with 277 seats. On top of that, while the developer reps insisted that the alcohol license they had applied for was just for service in conjunction with the restaurant, it turned out that they were also going to be serving booze on the rooftop deck. And, oh yeah, they were planning on featuring live entertainment.
And here's something else that was interesting. The project was already under construction.
When the case came before the City Planning Commission (CPC) in February, a few of us who lived in the neighborhood showed up to speak. One of our complaints was that the developer was engaged in piecemealing. What's piecemealing? Well, the California Environmental Quality Act states that all aspects of a project must be considered at the same time so that the community has a chance to weigh all possible impacts. But if developers are afraid of opposition, they'll sometimes ask for the approvals in stages. Instead of putting the whole project out there at once, they'll break it down into smaller pieces. By themselves the requests may seem small. When you put them together, though, they could start raising red flags.
So, when the item came up at the hearing, those of us who attended voiced our concerns. And out of all the Commissioners, only one had any reservations. Dana Perlman expressed surprise that the CPC was considering allowing changes to a project that was already under construction. I give him credit. He voted no. But the rest of them had no problem making the changes, and it passed six to one.
If this was just one isolated case, you might say no big deal. But just since the beginning of 2018, two more developers have asked for changes to projects that are already under construction. And if the recent past is any indication, it looks like the Department of City Planning (DCP) will grant both requests.
The large residential structure at 6200 Hollywood Blvd. is nearing completion. It's actually the second phase of a two-part project that was approved about 10 years ago. The first phase, Eastown, which sits on the north side of the boulevard, was finished a while ago and is already in operation. The original EIR does include a request for "Conditional Use Permit(s) for On-site and/or Off-site Sale of Alcoholic Beverages." In its ground floor retail spaces Eastown does have two restaurants selling beer and wine, along with a drugstore that sells alcohol. It seems reasonable to assume that any mixed-use project might have a couple of eateries needing a liquor permit.
But at 6200 Hollywood they're going way beyond a couple of restaurants. Earlier this month I received a notice saying that the owners were asking for a Master Conditional Use Permit to allow a full line of alcoholic beverages at five restaurants, beer and wine at four more restaurants, and a full line of alcoholic beverages at a proposed 24-hour market. In other words, the owners want to have a permit that will cover up to 10 locations selling alcohol on one city block. And even though the hearing notice didn't say so, they also want to have live entertainment.
Let's get serious. Hollywood is already overflowing with alcohol. It's oversaturated. And that's not just my opinion. LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said the same thing in a letter to the DCP back in 2014. And still the DCP keeps dumping more liquor on the community. State law sets a limit of one full on-site license for every 2,000 people. As of 2017, U.S. Census data shows the population of this tract as 3,784. The State ABC web site reveals that there are 19 establishments in this census tract operating with a full license. Already the State and the City have gone way overboard in allowing this kind of alcohol concentration.
Research shows a connection between alcohol outlet density and violent crime. Check out the Urban Institute's 2008 study,"Alcohol Outlets as Attractors of Violence and Disorder." In Hollywood violent crime has continued to rise every year since Chief Beck wrote that letter, and the DCP continues to hand out more permits. Take a look at the LAPD's latest stats for Hollywood. They show a year-to-date increase of 25% in violent crime over 2017. The Hollywood Division is doing its best to keep the neighborhood safe, but they need a little help from City Hall.
Earlier this month I went to the hearing for 6200 Hollywood. I talked about my concerns. The response was that the owners were reputable operators with a good record in the Hollywood area. I'm sure that's true, but there's no guarantee they'll still own the project five years from now or even one year from now.If the property gets sold, the permits will still be in effect, and there's no knowing what a different operator might do. One of the ongoing problems we've had in Hollywood is that restaurants and bars change hands often. A reputable, responsible owner can easily be replaced by a disreputable, irresponsible one. And then the community is stuck with the consequences.
And now there's a third request to modify a project that's already under construction. This is another new hotel, going up right next to the Dream Hotel, which just opened last year and has already become a party hot spot. The owners of the new project are asking for a permit to allow alcohol to be sold at a new restaurant and a lobby bar AND to allow mini-bars inside the guest rooms. But that's not all. They're also asking the City to allow an increase in the number of seats on the rooftop deck from 73 to 187, in addition to "other accessory uses." The hearing notice doesn't say it, but how much do you want to bet these "other accessory uses" include live entertainment?
A hearing will be held on March 28, but is there any point in showing up? The DCP obviously has no problem allowing developers to make significant changes to projects long after they were originally approved. Oblivious to the impacts these changes have on the community, these days the DCP seems to exist to grant developers' wishes. And the developers have it way better than Aladdin. He only got three wishes. Looking at the DCP's record, it seems likely that as long as the real estate interests behind these deals keep rubbing the lamp, they'll keep getting whatever they ask for.
(Casey Maddren writes about Los Angeles at his blog The Horizon and the Skyline.) Prepped for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.
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