City rejects supergraphics/Cahuenga peak compromise

Two of the city's most heated land use controversies collided this week when a prominent manufacturer of vinyl "supergraphics" offered to contribute to the Save the Cahuenga Peak fund, but only if their signs were allowed to remain. SkyTag, based in Beverly Hills, is best known for their massive "murals" defending free speech, identifiable by the close-up abstraction of Lady Liberty's face. The posters, which at one time could be seen flanking skyscrapers across the city, were deemed illegal by the city council in a fiery standoff in which councilman Eric Garcetti authorized arrest warrants for the building owners who installed the posters.

But in an interesting turn of events, SkyTag has offered to pay the remaining $12.5m required to secure the land above the Hollywood sign named Cahuenga Peak from the Chicago developer who plans to build multimillion dollar homes there. The company, desperate to secure the future of its most profitable business segment, is well aware of the impending deadline set for the Cahuenga Peak buyout funds to materialize. Several interest groups and private citizens have publicized the cause and raised roughly $9.5m. CBS Corp., NBC Universal, the Walt Disney Company, Sony Pictures, Warner Brothers, and Twentieth Century Fox, as well as Hollywood heavyweights Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, number among the donors to the cause. But Fox River Financial has given the Trust for Public Land until April 14 to secure the full $22m purchase.

Attractive proposal, right? Wrong. The city council is not biting. "We're not going to trade off beautification in one place for visual decay in another," said Hollywood area councilman Eric Garcetti. The problem with that argument is that supergraphics are temporary, and there legality can be debated indefinitely; but once the Cahuenga developer builds those houses, the Hollywood sign vista will be marred forever. SkyTag's plea comes soon after a federal appelate judge ruled in December that the city's ban on so-called supergraphics was unconstitutional. Twenty of the signs remain. Ironically, the iconic and jealously guarded Hollywood sign was itself a 200x50 ft advertisement when it was installed in 1923 to promote a housing development.

Source: LA Times

Council Passes Slew of Westside Projects on Eve of Weiss' Departure

Just weeks before City Councilman Jack Weiss' departure on June 30, a number of high-profile projects have been presented to the council for review. Jack Weiss, who lost his recent bid for city attorney to Carmen Trutanich, presides over the 5th district - one of the wealthiest in LA. Among those projects already passed by the council are a 39-story tower at Westfield's Century City shopping mall and a controversial residential tower on La Brea Ave. Tomorrow will see whether the Museum of Tolerance will get its much-anticipated expansion. The flurry of requests comes in anticipation of Councilman-elect Paul Koretz' reputation for anti-development.

One project however, will not make it out so easy. Koretz has asked the council to delay their vote on a 14-story Burton Way condo proposal. The project, which asks for exemption from the existing 45-foot height limit, is staunchly opposed by the neighboring Four Seasons hotel in Beverly Hills. Jack Weiss on the other hand, has built his reputation as a development-friendly Councilman, and sits on the council's Planning and Land Use Management Committee. Having made numerous area developer friends, Weiss' run for city attorney relied on financial support from these relationships. Interest groups from Rick Caruso to Westfield were represented in his losing bid.

Two other projects were also recently approved on Burton Way - on the same premium stretch of land between the Beverly Center and the Beverly Hills city limits. Incidentally, the apartment project at 8500 Burton Way is an 88-unit Caruso development. The other developer attempted to woo the council with a supplementary affordable housing building nearby targeted toward workers at Cedars Sinai, but the city shot down that idea as a "bribed" liability. This town may never find a feasible solution for affordable housing. Oh well, Caruso claims his building will house a Trader Joe's.