Venice Neighborhood Council takes first steps to oppose Ray Hotel/Developer channels "1984"

Well folks, there's been lot's of movement on the Ray Hotel front, and we've got miles to go before we're done, so let's get started, shall we?

For those of you who don't know, the Venice Neighborhood Council had an entire Land Use and Planning Committee meeting devoted to the Ray Hotel Wednesday night. At stake was whether or not the current LUPC was willing to amend or overturn a previous LUPC decision to support the Ray Hotel in its entirety - even though the hotel asked for significant variances making it nearly twice as tall and half again as dense as anything else around it (and don't get me started about the parking!).

(TIME OUT: For those of you who want to cut to the chase, the LUPC did exactly that. By a razor-thin margin, it voted to approve a motion made by committee member Ruthie Seroussi to partially reject the most recent Zoning Administrators report - essentially saying by default that the Ray Hotel should conform to the height restrictions of the VSP, that the parking needs should be more closely re-examined, that better and more thorough traffic mitigation studies should be carried out, and that the LEEDS "green" certification be explicitly defined. There's more to it than that, but those are the bullet points............................Oh, and by the way, did I mention Ruthie just had a baby THREE WEEKS ago?)

Spurred on by a massive grassroots outreach campaign that sent 5,000 flyers into the community, over a hundred people (at its height) attended the meeting. As it turned out, many had never heard about the hotel before receiving those flyers.

Nearly everyone spoke about their common concerns - how this hotel would impact parking, traffic, the character of the neighborhood and precedents for future development. Most people responded positively to the hotel's design and it's plans for "green" construction, giving the impression they might actually support it if only Deidre Wallace and the Ambrose Group would conform to the Venice Specific Plan and provide parking that was adequate for the hotel's actual needs rather than an easily manipulated minimum standard. No one who spoke in opposition thought the benefits of green construction should be traded for additional height and density.

The response from Ms. Wallace and her supporters ranged from non-existant to ill-prepared. I found this rather odd until I later saw an invitation sent to a list of supporters. It was for an open house at Equator Books this Monday night.

The invitation says the hotel "..........should not be derailed by one small group of residents who feel they are the sole custodians of Venice."

Then it goes on to call 757 extra car trips a day "traffic reduction", precedent-setting height and density variances "smart progressive and sustainable", inadequate parking for the hotel's proposed usage "additional parking in the Venice community", and the tightly controlled open house a "transparent, comprehensive overview".

It's a wonderful and classic piece of propaganda, right up there with the Bush administration's "Clean Skies" and "Healthy Forests" initiatives. George Orwell must be doing backflips in his grave.

So I don't think Ms. Wallace ever intended to come to the LUPC meeting. Was it because it wasn't a meeting she could control?

I've even learned there were efforts to get the LUPC meeting cancelled. It was somehow "miscommunicated" to the LUPC Chair that Councilman Rosendahl wanted to lead a "town hall" meeting on the Ray Hotel instead. When contacted, Rosendahl's office had no knowledge of this arraignment and had no idea where this information had come from.

In any case, I suspect when Ms. Wallace and her people learned of the 5,000 flyer outreach they realized they had to make an appearance.

Less than 10 out a hundred people present spoke in favor the project as currently proposed. Out of those, only 3 appeared to be community members not personally or professionally connected with Ms. Wallace. Some supporters brought up legitimate points ( such as converted garages contributing significantly to on-street parking problems and that Venice residents could use some more hotel rooms for visiting guests), but others claimed the people present didn't "really" represent the community at large or accused them of ignorance for not acting on outreach they never received. Ms. Wallace's husband got up and spoke emotionally and passionately about the Venice Specific Plan being a "living document" and how it should be bended and amended to fit the needs of the "community". In this case the "community" being, well........... them.

But the highlight of the evening (or lowlight depending on your point of view) had to have been when the Ray Hotel architect, Hagy Belzberg, got up to speak. Armed with a legal pad full of hastily scribbled notes, Mr. Belzberg began this way,

"You know, I wasn't going to speak this evening............."

And you know, he should have listened to that still, small voice in his head, because what he said next did his client no favors at all.

Mr. Belzberg began by singling out stakeholders by name - some of whom were no longer there to defend themselves - lecturing the collective group on how wrong and ill-informed they were. Pointing his finger at a designated target, he would bulldoze past legitimate concerns, refuting versions of events and facts that didn't conform to his view. He did his best to paint opponents in their most extreme form - Philistines, NIMBYs, shrill and small-minded anti-gentrification, anti-development reactionaries still dreaming of Venice in its Town Council days and even before, when it was a destination for hippies seeking Utopia-by-the-beach.

Call me crazy, but I don't think personally criticizing a room full of people who already disagree with you is the best way to win over hearts and minds. By the time he was done he might have made himself feel better, but he turned the resolve of a lot of people in that room from salt to stone.

So right about now you're probably saying to yourself, "Now what?"

Well, that's a good question, because as I said before, we have miles to go before we're done. Momentum may be in our favor, but we can't count that it will stay that way. We have to keep the pressure up. Rosendahl has voiced his support for the community on this, but it's clear he's looking for us to lead the way. This is not something he can do on his own because the Ambrose Group has hired some very powerful lobbyists to put on the pressure. We have to be partners in this together.

C'mon, if Ruthie Seroussi can do it (ONLY THREE WEEKS AFTER GIVING BIRTH TO HER FIRST CHILD) so can you.



Here's what's next:


MONDAY, SEPT. 10 - 6:30PM
AMBROSE GROUP "OPEN HOUSE" ON THE RAY HOTEL
WHERE: Equator Books, 1103 Abbot Kinney
Don't be shy. Eat their food then pick their brains. Ask them how 757 extra car trips a day is "traffic reduction", precedent-setting height and density variances "smart progressive and sustainable", inadequate parking for the hotel's proposed usage "additional parking in the Venice community", where the valets are going to park all those extra cars, who the neighbors will have to go to to complain about noise on their rooftop pool at 3am.


TUESDAY, SEPT.18 - 7PM
VENICE NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL BOARD MEETING
WHERE: Westminster Elementary School - 1010 Abbot Kinney
The VNC Board still has to approve the decision LUPC made before it can be sent to the City. Here's another chance to make sure they do the right thing.


WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 19 - 4:30PM
WEST LA PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING
Henry Medina West L.A. Parking Enforcement Facility
11214 W. Exposition Blvd.(near Sepulveda)
2nd floor, Roll Call Room
If you don't go to any other meeting, go to this one. The WLAPC meeting will be considering wether or not to approve this project as is, make the Ambrose Group conform to the VSP, or some combination of the above. Numbers matter. Go.


AND IF YOU HAVEN'T DONE IT ALREADY, WRITE TO THE FOLLOWING CITY OFFICIALS AND MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!

james.k.williams@lacity.org - James Williams - West LA Planning Commission (or fax 213-978-1029)
gail.goldberg@lacity.org - Gail Goldberg - Director of Planning for the City of LA
councilman.rosendahl@lacity.org - Councilman Bill Rosendahl
mike.bonin@lacity.org - Mike Bonin - Councilman Rosendahl's chief of staff
grieg.asher@lacity.org - Grieg Asher - Councilman Rosendahl's Planning Director
board@grvnc.org - The Venice Neighborhood Council
msblucow@mac.com - Marta Evry - outreach,venicerayhotel.blogspot.com