In March the HHWNC board had a tie vote on the proposed Hollywoodland Hotel at 1919 -1925 Wilcox. This prevented the neighborhood council from taking a formal position via a community impact statement. It looked like the develper, Dimitri Samaha, was going to sail through and build his 5 story, 160-plus room hotel.

Without the help of a lawyer and no city planning training Milan Kalra began reading the 500 page NMD (Negative Mitigation Declaration) to familarize herself with the proposed Hollywoodland Hotel, better known to locals as the Caliber Colision Hotel. She turned down jobs and barely ate in preparation for the May 3rd public hearing.

In a stunning pastel pink crepe suit Milan spoke for her allotted time of two minutes to the Zoning Administrator, Fernando Tovar. She quoted Jane Jacobs. "Neighborhoods are built around people, not projects". She addressed traffic dangers and the unprecedented intensity of land use this project would create at the foot of our historic neighborhood. She had videos, photographs, charts. She was brilliant.

Ten rehearsed neighbored followed making specific points for why this out-sized project was unsuitable for this loaction. Julia Duncan, CD4's Planning Deputy, Orrin Feldman, president of PLUM, Brian Dyer Area 3 Chair were among those in strong support for the community's position.

The August 4th ruling calls for a far more modest 4 story, 122 room hotel. No height variances granted. Milan knew her material backwards and forwards. She did ratios in her head where the developer's lawyer used his calculator. She was masterful.

Thank you, Milan.