The proposed Highlands eldercare building is too large by code.
Rendering: Urbanize LA
Question: When did City Officials know that the proposed Highlands Eldercare facility was too large by code?
Emails obtained by Circling the News reveal that City officials know the proposed elder care facility in the Highlands was too large per City code. The proposed 64,646 sq. ft. building should be no larger than 52,274 sq.ft.
CTN sent an email to LA City Planning and Chief External Affairs Officer Yeghig L. Keshishian about the proposed building size, and he responded on November 21.
“The project’s permitted buildable area was discussed during the deliberations of the project at the West LA Area Planning Commission meeting,” he said. “Among others, it was raised by one of the appellants.
“The applicant did not however seek a deviation from the zoning code to allow a larger building than what would be allowed by-right,” Keshishian said. “The applicant will need to demonstrate compliance with the zoning regulations at the time they apply for a building permit.”
Answer: According to emails received by CTN, Associate Zoning Administrator Henry Chu knew the morning of April 18 that the project was too large: the hearing was scheduled for that evening.
David Houston, a co-founder of the Turkey Trot, leads runners through the streets.
Question: Who won the Turkey Trot? How many years has it been in existence?
Answer: This was the seventh year of the Thanksgiving morning run. Thomas Fitzpatrick won the 5K in 16:35, bettering his winning time a year ago of 16:54. Palisadian Gwendolyn Twist defeated five-time winner Tania Fisher with a time of 19:02, five seconds off the course record.
The 10K winner in 32.30 for a new course record was Redondo Beach’s Craig Taylor, who swims with Tower 26 at the PaliHi pool. Meghan Roberts won the women’s 10K in 40:44, but admitted the last mile, which is up Temescal Canyon Road, “was horrific.”
Question: Why did long-time Palisades resident Elliott Zorensky put his commercial property up for sale?
His La Cruz properties include the building now occupied by Seven Arrows, Mathnasium, the popular Garden Café and the Pit Stop, which is located behind the building. His real estate on Sunset includes Wells Fargo Bank, Ruby Nails, Philips French Cleaners, Valentina and Club Pilates. Zorensky’s property lies between the Post Office/CVS and the City parking lot.
The property on La Cruz is for sale by owner Elliot Zorensky.
Answer: Zorensky and his wife Jodi wanted to move to the Las Vegas area, where their two sons live. Their daughter Sydney, a social worker with at-risk youth in New York City, completed her master’s in social work at the University of Denver last year.
Alex and Seth owned and operated the Palisades Pit Stop until its sale in October 2016. They moved to Las Vegas and started a new business, LSC Destruction, which destroys seized firearms for law-enforcement officials.
Alex was recognized by the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner John McMahon at a ceremony for his heroism at the 2017 Route 91 Festival in Las Vegas. He received a Lifesaving Award for his actions at the Festival, in which 59 people were killed.
Succulents were sold at the nursery.
Question: Why did Acme 5 close? I loved that nursery.
The nursery is squeezed into a small triangular area on Temescal Canyon Road, across from the Maggie Gilbert Aquatic Center. It closed November 14, after just a year in business.
Construction on the site began in early in 2014, but the actual nursery did not open until last November.
Answer: CTN was told that the rent was being raised and more support from Pacific Palisades residents would have been helpful. There is a possibility that another plant store may be going in.
Store owner Anton Goss has been nominated for an Emmy in production design eight times, winning three times. He has designed for shows such as “The Voice,” “Ellen Degeneres,” “Oprah” and “The Bachelor.”
The plants from this store will be transferred another of Goss’ stores at 3280 Lincoln Blvd. in Santa Monica.
Sue, thank you so much for keeping us up to date on current Palisades issues and reminding us of previous articles of importance such as the one above on the Elder Care project…you are the ‘news’ of the Community. My grateful thanks!