Well folks, as I write this, I can see the lights of Venice recede into the darkness beneath me, a long night of trans-Pacific travel ahead. My flight only has another 7,880 miles to go until I reach Melbourne, Australia, where I'll spend the next 8 months or so working on a mini-series for HBO. I've known I'd make this journey for months, but it's one thing to anticipate it, another thing entirely to actually climb inside this tin can, leaving everything and everyone I love behind.
And I feel like I'm leaving so much behind, so much work undone. But thankfully, the internets are a wonderful thing. They don't call it "world-wide" for nothing. Most of my work in Venice is done via email anyway, so except for the next couple of weeks (during which time I'll be on a boat in the middle of nowhere), I anticipate being as active as I've always been, sending out information and dishing Venice dirt.
I've got miles to go before I'm done, so let's get started, shall we?
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Councilman Rosendahl just released this statement commenting on the Ray Hotel's latest ploy - asking the City of LA for yet another postponement of the hearing before the West LA Planning Commision.
“In recent months, one of the most talked about and controversial development projects in Venice has been the Ambrose Group’s proposed boutique hotel, the Ray Hotel, at the intersection of Abbot Kinney Boulevard and Main Street. This hotel has been the subject of neighborhood council meetings, zoning administrator hearings and countless conversations between neighbors over a cup of coffee.”
“There is much about the proposal I find attractive. It would be wonderful for Venice to have a nice, upscale hotel so that our out-of-town friends and family do not have to stay in Santa Monica. The
“green” development standards that the hotel sought to achieve are laudable and need to be encouraged in the City of Los Angeles. And Deidre Wallace, the developer, has a spirit, an energy and a creative spark I truly admire.”
“However, the project as proposed fails to comply with the Venice Specific Plan (VSP), a document and a set of ground rules that a large segment of Venice feels is a precious and necessary safeguard against overdevelopment. While many Venetians would be willing to entertain certain exemptions to the VSP in an exchange for a clear public benefit, the developers of this project seeks height and floor-area-ratio (FAR) exemptions so incompatible with the neighborhood that the project could not win sufficient public support for a variance. Moreover, despite assurances from the developer, large numbers of people remain unconvinced that the project would contribute to even more traffic gridlock and to the ever-worsening Venice parking crisis.”
“I support the majority of the Venice community in its opposition to the variance sought for this project and encourage the developer to go back to the drawing board and craft a proposal that respects the Venice Specific Plan. Additionally, unless the developer is willing to make such a significant change to the project, I do not support a continuance of the matter at the next meeting of the West Los Angeles Area Planning Commission.”
As I reported earlier, the Ray Hotel held an open house at Equator Books Monday night. Reportedly anywhere between 300-400 attended. It was described to me as as quite the "hipster" crowd (however you might define that), mostly supporters from the developer's list, with a number of opponents and lookie-loos mixed in. A peak at the sign-in sheet revealed quite a few Santa Monica and Brentwood addresses.
By all accounts it was a lavish affair, with an open bar providing light refreshments of organic wine and cheese. The PR firm developer Diedre Wallace hired went all out, lining the walls with colorful graphic displays, and asking people to sign a petition supporting the project or to volunteer to write letters and make phone calls.
The presentations were impressive - people were jazzed about the organic linens, the bike racks for employees, all the "open green space". Why, 55' high didn't seem such a bad trade-off for all that community benefit. Anything and everything you'd ever want to know about hotel was right there for the asking.
Except maybe a little honesty.
They told a good story, and they got to tell it the way they wanted to without the nuisance of skeptical Public Servants or Planning Officials asking pesky followup questions in a forum the developers couldn't control.
As one neighbor left the event, she looked around at the crowd spilling out into the street, and at the snarl of traffic as valets struggled to offload and park patron's cars. She thought to herself, "Oh my God, is it going to be like this every night once the hotel gets built?"
Good question.........
I've gotten quite a few emails in the last few weeks asking why I'm so opposed to this project. How could a bleeding-heart liberal such as myself be against such a "green" project, one that promises jobs to the community, preserves the Eames legacy, and puts Venice on the cutting edge of sustainable development?
The answer is simple. I'm not. I want the hotel, with all it's greeness, to grace the corner of Abbot Kinney and Brooks. I really do. I've always valued environmental sensitivity in development. On it's face, the Ray Hotel would seem to be just that. But one of the critical considerations here is treading lightly on the earth. The Ray, as designed, fails miserably in that regard. There's nothing green or sustainable about providing luxury hotel rooms for a transient population in a building nearly twice as tall and half again as dense as the law allows in a community already heavily impacted with air and noise pollution caused by too many cars crammed in too small a space.
All the green material in the world can't fix that.
Green to me means co-existing with the community that's right here, right now - not the one the Ray Hotel developers wish were here. I don't doubt for a second that Deidre Wallace is sincere about following through on her promise to create a "green" hotel. But to me "green" means doing everything the Ray Hotel promises to do without forcing the community to sell it's soul in return.
It's the difference between "green" and "green washing".
But, obviously, she doesn't see things the same way. She's stated publicly she doesn't plan on compromising one iota on her plans. Not on height. Not on density, or parking, or even serving alcohol at the rooftop pool's open bar into the wee hours of the morning. Yet they've asked the City to allow them yet another postponement, this time into October. Not to work with the community to bring the project more in scale, but to buy more time for the their PR campaign to manufacture consent.
This has been very frustrating for those of us who've been trying to get the Ray Hotel developers to respond to the needs of our community . We don't have bottomless resources, we are not paid professionals. We have jobs and time constraints and children to raise. Like you, every meeting is a hardship to us, every delay an insult. Thankfully, we have the help of the councilman, and that is no small thing.
If we want to have a voice in Venice's future, we have to keep going. We still need to make our voices heard. There are two meetings coming up next week that are critical to opening a real (as opposed to manufactured) dialogue with the developer and the City. Write to our City Officials. Just because the developer asked for another delay, doesn't mean the City has to grant them one. Especially now that our councilman won't support it. Tell the city no more stalling tactics. Our time is precious and should be respected.
Be sure to include the project number at the top of any correspondence:
APCW 2006-9483-SPE-CDP-CU-SPP-SPR-MEL
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
Attend these meetings. Numbers matter. Go.
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 to reject the Ray Hotel's variances 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 WLA Planning Commissioners will be considering whether or not to hear the case. If they do, they'll be deciding whether or not to approve this project as is, make the Ambrose Group conform to the VSP, or some combination of the above.
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2 comments:
there appears to be a typo in the transcription of the councilman's statement (or perhaps the councilman miswrote it, himself). it reads...
"large numbers of people remain unconvinced that the project would contribute to even more traffic gridlock..."
i think it should read:
"large numbers of people remain *convinced* that the project would contribute to even more traffic gridlock..."
or
"large numbers of people remain unconvinced that the project would *not* contribute to even more traffic gridlock..."
I am writing on behalf of Deirdre Wallace and Hotel Ray.
I have been employed by The Ambrose Group for the last 5 years, first as an inexperienced front desk clerk, then as the food and beverage director and for the past two years - the green team leader of our Environmental initiatives.
Although I do not live in Venice, my boyfriend and I do occupy a studio/work space on Abbot Kinney and I am very familiar with the neighborhood as it is among my favorite in Los Angeles.
It is not my intention to write a long letter based on parking or height issues - I am not an engineer or architect and I am sure you are receiving plenty of informed and educated letters regarding these issues. My hope is to shed a little light on the person behind the project, my mentor, Deirdre Wallace.
When I first came to The Ambrose, although I had no real experience in the hospitality industry I had a great desire to learn as much as I could about an industry that excited me. I was introduced to Deirdre during my interview process and was immediately struck by her dedication to what she was doing. After 27 years of miscellaneous jobs I had yet to have the opportunity to work for a business that was owned by a woman - much less a woman as passionately committed to her dream as Deirdre was. The hotel had not yet opened so I had the delightful experience of watching the company’s mission grow as the building did.
Needless to say, this entire 5 year process has been priceless. When she approached me two and a half years ago and invited me to put my environmental concerns to work as the Environmental Director I was honored. It wasn’t a trend that worried her, it was the state of the ocean she had just surfed in that weekend, how dirty the water was - how sad it was making her and her friends. When we started taking the necessary steps to “green” our business, she encouraged my outside the box thinking and supported all the changes we were making. That top down commitment is rare in this industry and the more I learn the more I realize that a boss who cares as much as she does is pretty rare too.
Deirdre has always believed in my creative spirit and done her absolute best to allow me the opportunity to move in the direction of my own dreams. She has supported my artistic aspirations and has attended every single one of my art shows. Together we have mapped a course through my hospitality career that has been both inspiring and exciting. She has been a mentor and friend to me in more ways then this letter could ever describe, my only hope is that these words will fall into the right hands and that everyone involved in this process will have a good understanding of who Deirdre is and what she stands for as a business owner.
I think I can speak for all of us when I say that working for The Ambrose has been a life changing experience. Most of us do not have families here, so The Ambrose has become our home away from home. We work together, play together and volunteer together. We have deep and lasting friendships built on the strong foundation of a common place where we are lucky enough to come to each day. We are grateful for the opportunity Deirdre has given all of us to be a part of such a close and inspiring family and sincerely appreciate the hard work she puts into all that she does.
I hope that when this project is being discussed you will take into consideration how much she has already done for all of us, for our neighborhood and for our lives as well as how much more I know she has to give to this Venice project. The community will not be sorry, and take it from me, her new employees won’t be either!
Wishing you all the best.
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