Whitley Ave. and surrounding areas are now Transit Oriented Communities TOC's This Citywatch article is by a Picfair Village resident, whose TOC appeal was on the same day, on the same agenda, as Planning Commission agenda as  1920 Whitley Ave. TOC appeal hearing...

The Planning Commission will not support any appeals for TOC's which Picfair Village and 1920 Whitley Ave. are, and admitted all the TOC projects are being appealed, because they are horrible.

All has been approved for 1920 Whitley Ave. demo and replacement with an oversized out of scale project that other Whitley Ave. building owners already are saying will force them to sell since they won't be able to rent with the overscale and out of character project towering over their 'historic contributor' older low rise affordable buildings, all the additional cars and traffic, and with a roof top deck intruding upon resident's privacy and peace.

The 1920 Whitley Ave. appellant lives in one of those next door 'historic contributor' buildings and presented heartfelt testimony about the beautiful 1920 Whitley Ave. building, how much she loves her neighborhood, the historic charm and *character, and how she will most likely lose her home too.

(*"I don't care about the 'character' of your neighborhood!" ...A Planning Commissioner)

If you see them please thank:

Long time Whitley Heights resident and renown photographer Tim Street Porter who testified to the importance of the historic character of Whitley Ave. which he has photographed many times.

and..

Our HHWNC Area 3 Rep., Brian Dyer who spoke in support of our area 3 community and presented testimony questioning the measurements of Whitley Ave. to transit as per TOC requirements..

This project and Whitley Ave. were written about in CurbedLA (older affordable buildings being demoed for supposedly affordable TOC's), officially opposed by L.A. Tenants Union (loss of alot of affordable housing for a pittance in TOC projects) and United Neighborhoods for Los Angeles, among others, and Hollywood Heritage submitted letters questioning the historic survey/review of 1920 Whitley Ave.

The ten 'historic contributor' buildings from the 1920's and 30's were in the process of being protected from this happening.. Planning Commission did not care about that, and this may be moving too fast now to complete the process. .

The Picfair Village TOC appeal group, at least 30 residents from their community testified, in addition to their land use attorney representing their community, and a planning rep. from their Council District office (Councilmember Wesson's district office) attended to testify in support of their community and their appeal. Our CD office told us they could not do a thing.

This article gives a good explanation about TOC projects. Take a look at the rendering of what they'll be getting in their community. TOC developers are given more height, density, etc. than allowed in the areas they're being built, there's  no community input, neighborhood council input, design review, nothing.

The Planning Commissioners hated the oversized out of character TOC projects presented, admitted they will destroy the neighborhoods they're going into, some historic, begged the planning dept. to make TOC developers reach out to communities for input (too late for Whitley Ave. for this building,. planning dept. told everyone for a year 1920 Whitley Ave. developer could "do whatever he wants there because it's a TOC." )

Council district offices can support The Planning Commission, and urge the planning dept. to reach out to TOC developers and have them engage with the communities they represent, where they are building their projects for community input. CD4 sent a post Planning Commission hearing e-mail..they are aware of this now.

The article gives a good sense of what's behind TOC's, problems with them, and what Whitley Ave and surrounding areas potentially will become since it's all now a TOC..as more buildings are bought up, demoed, and replaced with more oversized TOC's, up zoning and overdensifying the area, and existing affordable 1920's and 30's Whitley Ave. buildings will be lost and affordable building residents displaced.

TOC areas are now being advertised as 'TOC opportunities' and developers are making offers owners can't refuse so they can demo existing housing stock and replace with these larger out of scale and character  projects. The Planning Commission  reported that many comments opposing the 1920 Whitley Ave. project were submitted..So anyone who did submit, thank you! When Affordable Housing is a Pretext for McMansions GEORGE CROWDER 08 NOVEMBER 2018

https://citywatchla.com/index.php/2016-01-01-13-17-00/los-angeles/16538-when-affordable-housing-is-a-pretext-for-mcmansions "Yet this particular building is only the first of many to come in Picfair Village and other areas throughout Los Angeles, transforming the character of our neighborhoods and adding boxy, out-of-scale buildings to a city already plagued by terrible traffic and failing infrastructure. Though the planning commission turns up it's nose at the unappealing designs, they never fail to move the projects forward."  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------  ---1920 - 1922 N. Whitley Avenue - is in HHWNC's Area 3 and City Council District 4. The LA City Planning Commission issued a letter of determination, which is dated November 5, 2018, to approve (i) the demolition of an existing triplex, and (ii) the construction of a new 5-story (66' 7" in height) building with 24 residential units. Three (3) units would be set aside for Extremely Low Income Households. 25 automobile parking spaces will be provided in two subterranean levels, which really makes it a 7-story building... The Planning Department's case no. is DIR-2017-1073-TOC-1A.  The CA CEQA no. is ENV-2017-1074-CE. The Commissions determination is final, effective upon being filed and not further appealable.

For CEQA appeals, consult your own attorney(s) to determine if an appeal may be appropriate and what the deadline for filing that appeal might be.  ---These are the next two to go..circa 1919 homes on Franklin near corner of Whitley Ave. 1.   6551 and 6555 W. Franklin Avenue -  The City's Building & Safety Department sent pre-demolition notices that it has received applications asking to demolish the buildings at both sites. Sierus Erdelyi is the applicant, and may be reached at (310) 383-4640.  For 6555 W. Franklin Avenue, the Demolition Pre-inspection Application No. is 18019-10000-05424. For 6551 W. Franklin Avenue, the Demolition Pre-inspection Application No. is 18019-10000-05425. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The TEN Whitley Ave. properties, identified by Hollywood Heritage as 'Historic Contributors' of the original 'Whitley  Heights  Ocean View Tract' development.:

1930 Whitley Ave:           1923

1929-1933 Whitley Ave 1928 -  Ojai Apartments, Historic Cultural Monument  #842

1926 Whitley Ave:           1923

1921 Whitley Ave:           1925.....planned for demo

1920-1924 Whitley Ave:  1921

1916-1918 Whitley Ave:  1921

1907 Whitley Ave:           1924

6561 Franklin Ave:          1919

6555 Franklin Ave:          1919....planned for demo

6551 Franklin Ave:          1919...planned for demo Only three Whitley Ave. buildings are non contributors.