The Pacific Palisades Community Council opposed the proposed five-story building that would replace Jack-in-the-Box for several reasons. The City Planning Commission ignored the PPCC findings.
Photo: L.A. City Planning
The Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee of the Los Angeles City Council will hold a public hearing telephonically about 2 p.m. on Tuesday, December 8, for the proposed Jack-in-the Box building replacement.
The PLUM committee will discuss the mitigated negative declaration, mitigation measures, the mitigation monitoring program, the California Environmental Quality Act and the Planning Commission’s recommendation for the demolition of the building at 17346 Sunset.
The proposed development for that site would be a five-story, 60-ft.-high, 32,225-sq.ft. mixed-use building with 39 dwelling units. (The recommendation and report can be found at: https://planning.lacity.org/dcpapi/meetings/document/67679.)
On August 26, after receiving faulty information that Pacific Palisades did not have low-income housing, the City Planning Commission approved construction of a residential/commercial building on the Sunset property, despite widespread opposition from residents and leading organizations in Pacific Palisades.
The commissioners supported 39 living units, of which four would be reserved for very low-income residents. In making the decision, one commissioner said, “No affordable housing is an indicator of a challenge to the community. I wonder if this is an inspiration for a reflection on a community to become more inclusive and be the community you want to create.”
A second commissioner asked if it was possible to give the developer the initially larger project he wanted, thereby showing Pacific Palisades residents their errors in being “NIMBYs”.
Commission Chair Samantha Milliman, who is vice president of a privately held real estate firm in Los Angeles, explained to Pacific Palisades, “This is where we want to see affordable housing go in. This is precisely the development we need to see go in. This is an excellent project. It does have one flaw: it does not provide as many affordable units as I would like.”
There are already several areas in Pacific Palisades that have affordable housing, including the Palisades Bowl Mobile Home Park, which is under the Mello Act (and came under scrutiny in 2010). The Mello Act was enacted in 1981 “to preserve residential housing units occupied by low- or moderate-income persons or families in the coastal zone.” There are about 170 units in the park, located on Pacific Coast Highway across from Will Rogers State Beach.
When the Palisades Highlands was constructed in the early 1970s, the PPRA (Pacific Palisades Residents Association) filed a lawsuit and negotiated construction of a low-income apartment complex at Palisades Drive and Sunset. There are 61 senior units and 39 family units ($1,200 a month), with two parking spaces for every unit.
Additionally, the Palmer condominium project on Castellammare has now been required to have four low-income units.
Circling the News emailed commissioners asking where they received the faulty information about the lack of low-income housing here, but never received a response.
Much of the local opposition for the project (opposed by the Self-Realization Fellowship, Vons, Pacific Palisades Community Council and the PPCC Land Use Committee, the Pacific Palisades Design Review Board, the Edgewater Towers Condominium HOA Association and the PPRA) focused on the lack of packing in the proposed structure and lack of street parking near the intersection of PCH and Sunset.
There is only one city bus that serves this stretch of Sunset and no metro light rail (or train) is available, which means cars are required for the building’s residents. Visitors would have difficulty finding street parking because of the close proximity to the ocean. (Editor’s note, the westbound, metro bus traveling on Sunset, turns right on Temescal and right on PCH before taking another right on Sunset and parking in front of Vons. The Santa Monica Big Blue Bus, which travels on Sunset, only goes as far as Marquez Avenue, which means there is no west-bound bus service between Marquez Avenue and PCH.)
The proposed project also does not follow the Pacific Palisades Commercial Village and Neighborhoods Specific Plan.
The Project would include the construction of one new retaining wall, 11,500 cubic yards of grading, and a haul route for the export of 10,700 cubic yards of earth.
Residents who would like to offer public comment should call (669) 254-5252: Meeting ID No. 161 644 6631, and then press #. Press # again when prompted for participant ID. Once admitted into the meeting, press *9 to request to speak.
Comments in writing may be submitted to the City Clerk, Room 395, City Hall, 200 N. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90012 or submitted at: LACouncilComment.com. Additionally, send your comments to your Councilman Mike Bonin at councilmember.bonin@lacity.org.
The applicant for this project is Michael Aminpour, California Food Managers, LLC and Heavenly Tiger LLC, who are represented by City lobbyist Michael Gonzales of Gonzales Law Group.
For inquiries about the project, contact City Planning staff: Jordann Turner (213) 978-1365 jordann.turner@lacity.org; or Nick Vasuthasawat (213) 978-1250 nick.vasuthasawat@lacity.org.
For inquiries about the meeting, contact City Clerk staff: Leyla Campos (213) 978-1078 clerk.plumcommittee@lacity.org. She’s the Deputy City Clerk, Planning and Land Use Management Committee.
Developers would like to turn this single story building into a five-story mixed use building.