It is commonplace to say that Los Angeles has no historical memory. But that's not quite true. In fact, many older neighborhoods have tried to protect their historical character by voting for historic preservation overlay zones, or HPOZ. Homeowners in such zones need the approval of a review board before changing their houses' exteriors.
But what happens in commercial areas when preservation activists impose their will on owner-occupied businesses? This question took on a new urgency for me this month when the Cultural Heritage Commission designated our family's automobile dealership, Felix Chevrolet, and its rooftop sign featuring Felix the Cat, a historic cultural monument.
We are not planning to demolish the building or the sign. In fact, we are currently spending several million dollars to remodel our downtown L.A. facility. What's more, my wife and I belong to the Los Angeles Conservancy. We support the HPOZ in Hancock Park. We both have doctorates in history and have taught at USC and UCLA. My father-in-law, Nick Shammas, put up the sign when he took over Felix Chevrolet in 1958, and we spend $1,300 a month maintaining it. So it has been part of our lives.
But we oppose the designation. The fact is, although historians can help us understand the past and present, we cannot predict what might happen five, 10 or 20 years down the road. With this historical designation, a future owner would have to build his business around the showroom and sign. Even if it stayed a Chevrolet dealership, General Motors could require the new owner to build a new facility or remove the sign for being incompatible with GM's corporate identification. Not being free to do this could result in the loss of the franchise, 200 jobs and $450,000 in annual sales tax revenue for the city of Los Angeles.
Such arguments, however, carried no weight with four of the commissioners. It didn't matter that the facility was originally built in a Spanish Colonial style, transformed into a Streamline Moderne style and altered dozens of times. It didn't matter that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who appoints the commissioners, opposed the designation over concerns for future economic development. It didn't matter that City Council member Jan Perry, whose district includes the dealership, opposed it as well.
