Monday, March 26, 2018
Page 1
Court of Appeal:
Lytton Savings Building May Be Demolished
By a MetNews Staff Writer
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The Court of Appeal has reversed the granting of a writ of mandate blocking the demolition of the Lytton Savings Building on Sunset Boulevard. |
The Court of Appeal for this district on Friday gave a green light to the bulldozing of the zig-zag roofed Lytton Savings Building at 8150 Sunset Boulevard which Los Angeles Conservancy and others are fighting to preserve.
An unpublished opinion by Acting Justice Anthony Mohr, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge sitting on assignment to Div. Four, countermands an April 25, 2017 order by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Amy Hogue that the City of Los Angeles not issue further permits to developer Townscape Partners that could result in demolition of the 1960 structure.
Finding a lack of compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act, Hogue declared that destruction of the building, now housing Chase Bank, may not proceed unless the city “can prove the benefits of the...project outweigh the significant environmental effect of demolition.”
In particular, she discerned inadequate bases for the city’s rejection of three proposed alternatives that would have saved the building as “infeasible.”
Plans call for a five-building complex on the 2.5-acre site on Sunset Boulevard between Havenhurst Drive and Crescent Heights Boulevard, with 249 residential units, a grocery store, restaurants, pedestrian plazas, and shops.
Proposed Alternatives
In Friday’s opinion, Mohr said:
“The record contains a number of facts that constitute substantial evidence that the Preservation Alternatives would not fulfill the objectives of the Project, among which was a call for vibrant buildings that draw people in, create new economic opportunities, and preserve view corridors.”
He pointed out:
“The City found several conditions preventing the Preservation Alternatives from achieving the visually appealing, pedestrian-oriented, economically viable new development described in the project objectives.”
Flaws Noted
He quoted a city document as concluding that one alternative would “result in a disjointed design to sidewalks, project accessibility, and would not be as visually appealing or pedestrian friendly compared to the proposed project”
The document points to other detriments if proposed changes were adopted.
Mohr did agree that a public hearing must be held on the plan to convert into non-vehicle use a lane for eastbound traffic on Sunset Boulevard turning right onto Crescent Heights Boulevard.
The building in issue was constructed for Bart Lytton, a colorful local figure and Democratic Party financier.
The case is Los Angeles Conservancy v. City of Los Angeles, B284089.
Copyright 2018, Metropolitan News Company