The two couples appealing the city’s preliminary approval of a mixed-use building at 4043 Irving Pl., dispatched letters to city officials yesterday announcing they have reached an accord with the developers.
For nearly a year, they have complained that a new building in their neighborhood with two dozen or more condominiums would increase traffic on their residential streets to an intolerable level.
But Judy Miller, one of the appellants, declined to call the long-awaited agreement a done deal this afternoon. She told the newspaper one significant detail remains unsatisfied, the outcome of developer Sal Gonzales’ compensatory negotiations with City Hall.
Since the mostly residential project — reportedly 28 condos and one business unit — has been considerably reconfigured, as in shrunk, Mr. Gonzales and partner George Mitsanas believe they are owed compensation from the city, which originally owned the property.
The last time City Hall found itself in this predicament, it turned over about $500,000 in compensation funds to the developer Joseph Miller for 9900 Culver Blvd., across from City Hall and adjacent to the Post Office.
Responding to a huge protest of encroachment from neighbors along Duquesne, at the behest of the City Council, 9900 was substantially downsized, costing the developer a slice of profits he had figured into the project.
Mr. Gonzales, who paid the city $3.121 million for the property at 4043 Irving, was not available for comment.
Mrs. Miller raved about the environmental change in bargaining talks between her community group and the builder team once the city inserted itself into a leadership role.
“Nobody got everything they wanted, but at least we got things worked out,” she said.
To the question of how the presence of city officials affected the dynamics of the negotiations, Mrs. Miller said:
“It was helpful to have the city chairing the meetings because there were two parties with disparate points of view.”
Here is the letter signed by the Behnkes and Miller:
Last April, Mrs. Miller, her husband Michael, and Jim and Michelle Behnke appealed the Planning
On Tuesday, January 20th, the Culver City Downtown Neighborhood Association negotiating team and the developers of 4043 Irving Place, with valuable assistance from city staff, arrived at an agreement that is satisfactory to all parties.
We believe that as a result of this extended dialogue among stakeholders, the proposed development will better fit in with its surroundings and will reflect the historical and cultural context of the adjacent homes designated as having “Landmark” significance.
We would particularly like to thank City Manager Jerry Fulwood, Community Development Director Sol Blumenfeld and Redevelopment Administrator Todd Tipton for facilitating the many negotiating sessions that made this agreement possible.
The appellants and the developers will address the joint meeting of the Redevelopment Agency and the City Council on Monday, January 26th, to affirm the agreement.
Hopefully, lessons have been learned from this process, the most important of which is that the community should be meaningfully involved at the outset when significant redevelopment initiatives are proposed.
