The two houses on the near side of Marquette Street, located on Las Pulgas Canyon, would be demolished and eight new homes with swimming pools/spas would be constructed.
The L.A. City Council’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee (PLUM) meeting regarding the Marquette development will be held at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow, February 25, in room 340 at City Hall.
At issue are eight houses that developer Cosimo Pizzulli, wants to build on Marquette Street, on the rim of Las Pulgas Canyon. The project received initial approval by the planning department and was appealed to the West L.A. Planning Commission (5-0), which upheld the initial determination on November 6.
Members of the PLUM committee, which include Councilmembers Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Bob Blumenfield, Curren D. Price, Jr., Gilbert A. Cedillo and John S. Lee, will hear an appeal by Marquette residents and neighbors to deny a categorical exemption for two lot-line adjustments, the demolition of two one-story single-family dwellings and a one-story accessory structure.
In place of the demolished buildings, eight two-story single-family dwellings with attached garages, basements and swimming pools and/or spas would be built on lots ranging in size from 5,503 to 8,365 sq. ft., with building heights up to 33 ft.
Committee members will also consider the construction of an extension of a retaining wall and 6,255 cubic yards of combined grading and the export of about 475 cubic yards of earth.
Although the construction of a sewer system to serve the eight residences is proposed, the houses across the street, which are on septic systems, would be unchanged.
Circling the News reached out to City Planner Kenton Trinh over the weekend to inquire what was proposed for Marquette Street itself, which was vacated by the City in 1937 – and if some concessions would be made for the houses across the street that are on septic tanks.
CTN noted that the description in the February 6, 2020 Planning Commission letter to the PLUM committee under Appeal Point No. 1 stated, “The subject property is surrounded by single-family dwellings to the north, south, east and west.” A quick glance at the photo shows that is untrue.
Trinh responded on Monday, “For questions, please email clerk.plumcommittee@lacity.org” and added “comments can be submitted here: https://cityclerk.lacity.org/publiccomment/.”
All the documents surrounding this case can be found at https://cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkconnect/index.cfm?fa=ccfi.viewrecord&cfnumber=20-0027
Several members of the nonprofit Save Las Pulgas Canyon group are asking that the City require “the developer to do more substantial geological investigations to determine the risks to the environment, the street, neighbors and the canyon that this large-scale development presents.”
Members have met with Councilman Mike Bonin on January 6 to present issues. Bonin’s Senior Planning Deputy Jason Douglas toured the street on February 18.
Over the weekend, CTN emailed Bonin’s public spokesperson David Graham-Caso and asked if Bonin had taken a stand for or against the project. We had not received a response by post time on Monday.