In a community where territorialism is a siren-sounding priority, the Redevelopment Wars — which may outlast the 116-year long Hundred Years War — have marched into virgin space.
The ever-popular Redevelopment Wars crossed the supposedly scale-proof wall separating Culver City from Los Angeles at last night’s City Council meeting.
At the end, however, the City Council overrode the powerfully argued protests of 17 (mostly Mar Vista) residents who live near the proposed mixed-use/office complex at 12402 Washington Pl.
Lopsided Balloting
The Council voted 4 to 1 to burn past the protestors. Councilman Gary Silbiger, who frequently responds to community trends, predictably dissented.
Oddly, in this newest Residents vs. City Hall fight over redevelopment, the project, as a stand-alone, was almost universally praised as unassailable by partisans on both sides. They loved its greenness and other condominium-like features.
What unfolded across two hours in Council Chambers was a scene so extraordinary it may have been unprecedented — and possibly embarrassing.
Non-Culver City residents spoke out, a rarity in Chambers.
Visitors Welcome?
A knockout group of perhaps a dozen Mar Vista residents lifted their skirts, their pants-legs and stepped over the magic-marker border that traditionally seals off Los Angeles from Culver City tighter than a package of discount diapers.
Mar.
Vista.
Those two words may never have been uttered before at a City Council meeting, so foreign has been the concept of talking — or thinking — about anyone outside of Culver City.
The army of Mar Vista residents that hoped to block the four-story, otherwise “ideal,” mixed-use, office condominium development at Washington Place and Centinela, was striking in the almost encyclopaedic research it presented.
Outstanding Speakers
Perhaps starting with Michael and Rebecca Scheffe, but including Christopher McKinnon, Joe Santana and others, the Mar Vista neighbors delivered information so richly researched that it may have embarrassed several members of the City Council.
The insightful, sometimes-arcane, often revealing assertions they made about traffic impact of the new development showed they also were much better prepared for the meeting than some Council members.
Emphasis on Researched Data
Residents and officials from Del Rey and Culver City homeowners’ associations, as well as the Mar Vista Neighborhood Assn., and the Mar Vista Community Council, poured reams of research into their arguments.
But the Council, except for Mr. Silbiger, was not to be budged.
The crowning piece of strategy that assured the project’s passage — if, indeed, it ever was in doubt — came when the developer, one Pamela Day, offered her side.
After 17 of 18 speakers lodged claims against approval, Ms. Day, in a breathtaking, scene-stealing moment, took charge of Chambers.
At a Glance
Tall, slim and blond with tall blond hair, she charismatically worked the room with the pearly panache of a polished politician.
Dressed for the occasion in a stylish, form-fitting black pants suit and fashionably contrasting vanilla-colored shirt, she approached the speakers’ station, smoothly removed the microphone from its holder, which almost no one has done before, and the show was on.
Turning toward the audience, the lions in her den, Ms. Day, bespectacled, instantly was in control, going face-to-face with her opponents. If melting didn’t immediately set in, it was close behind.
A Greeting to New Neighbors
A former New Yorker who recently moved into Mar Vista herself, Ms. Day opened by wondering how her new neighbors could turn on her when she and they wanted the same things. All she was trying to do was to bring “elegant density” to their shared neighborhood.
“Elegant density” is a phrase that soon may become a marketing hit with the redevelopment community.
“We are trying to bring a lot of glass, beauty and plants to the neighborhood,” she said.
To those who wondered why Ms. Day couldn’t settle for a two- or three-story building, said she: “You can’t build something beautiful unless you maximize the space.”
Just a Drop
By the time she got around to pointing out that the 63 car trips experts say will emanate from her new building are barely a drop in a bucket of charm compared to the 56,000 other cars that whiz through said intersection every weekday, the outcome — on the dais — probably had been clinched.
Mayor Alan Corlin, Vice Mayor Carol Gross, and Councilmen Scott Malsin and Steve Rose were on board from the start. Mr. Rose submitted a novel concept himself in urging approval of the green building. “This project will not create more traffic,” he insisted. “It will just move traffic around.”
Why Silbiger Demurred
After Council members had been polled, Mr. Silbiger stepped up to explain why he could not make the outcome unanimous. Like most others in Chambers, he lauded the shape, the contents and the principles of the project. But, he added, “this is not the right time to approve it. There should be more (community) discussion.”
