West Hollywood Ca Development And Redevelopment

Controversy over a proposed $300-million construction project along West Hollywood's famed Sunset Strip has taken a new turn after its developer was identified in a court decision as a possible suspect in drug dealing that led to a 1978 Nevada murder. Mark Siffin, developer of the Sunset Millennium project, was identified by the Nevada Supreme Court in a January opinion as appearing in police reports more than 20 years ago as an alleged "major cocaine trafficker."

A dispute over plans for huge billboards in West Hollywood has turned into a debate over whether a developer has paid off neighbors to support his $250-million Sunset Strip project. City Council members will be asked tonight to rescind approval of a proposal by builder Mark Siffin to erect large V-shaped billboards atop high-rise buildings in his Sunset Boulevard development or to place a billboard-rejection referendum on the next citywide ballot.

Lee and Julie Kibbler looked at a dozen condominiums last year before finding one to fit their budget. It was a no-pool, no-spa, no-frills kind of place, but from their third-floor vantage point, it offered a nice view of West Hollywood, and, most of all, it was something they could afford. No one told them that West Hollywood had a lawsuit against the developer who sold them their home, claiming the 18-unit building where they chose to buy never should have been converted to condominiums.

The last thing you'd think a business owner on West Hollywood's main street would want is another road closure, particularly since repeated disruptions have chased away customers for the last two years. But merchants along Santa Monica Boulevard are cheering a planned 22-hour shutdown that will close about a mile of it to cars on Sunday.

Plans are underway to make the rundown eastside of West Hollywood look more like the hip west end by rehabilitating old buildings, building commercial structures, preserving moderate-income residences and giving the area its own identity. City officials are drafting plans for a streetscape and several improvements in the area, which is bordered by La Brea Avenue on the east, Hayworth Avenue on the west, Fountain Avenue on the north and the Los Angeles city limits on south.

The city has commenced a nuisance abatement action against the owner of a long-abandoned apartment building, pressuring him to either complete construction or tear it down. The building on Horn Avenue just north of Sunset Boulevard has been occupied by homeless people who are lighting fires that could endanger the neighborhood, said City Atty. Mike Jenkins. The building is also infested with rats, he said. Construction on the two-story building started more than seven years ago.

A half-acre of residential property slated to become West Hollywood's newest park will be open to the public on an interim basis by early March, city officials said. Lloyd Long, the city's director of Human Services, said an architect for the future park at 1000 N. Kings Road will be selected within three months, after which the city Public Facilities Commission will hold public meetings to discuss plans for the park.

What a difference a recession makes. Just three years ago, Sunset Strip faced a stampede of new building, with several large office and retail projects approved or on the table. Fearing an all-out run on West Hollywood's most famous 10 blocks, city planners sat down to sketch a more measured path to long-term development. Now opposite worries are altering that sketch. Some of the proposed projects were abandoned. Others await financing or met legal challenges.

Opponents of a $25-million West Hollywood civic center, planned for the city's western edge in West Hollywood Park, announced Monday that they will campaign for an initiative on the June ballot to block construction of the civic center in the park. Tom Larkin, a real estate broker, announced the formation of the Save Our Parks Alliance to spearhead the effort, which he predicted will result in "the single biggest outcry" since West Hollywood was incorporated in 1984.

The Los Angeles City Council sheepishly backed away from a threatened lawsuit against West Hollywood on Wednesday, agreeing instead to a series of traffic improvements around that city's first large new development on the Sunset Strip. Rather than engender ill feeling with their neighbor, Los Angeles lawmakers said they would accept $485,000 in improvements pledged by the developer and other assurances from West Hollywood city officials.

Every construction project has its sidewalk superintendent--the onlooker who critiques the work from the sidelines. In West Hollywood, the $35-million project to convert the city's main street into "the Champs-Elysees of the West" has Jim Gordon.

At this point, the "Welcome to West Hollywood" signs are pointless. They have been replaced for all practical purposes by more direct sentiments--"Do Not Enter," "Open Trench," "Expect Delays,"--interrupted here and there with polite reminders and requests: "Businesses Open," "Next Left Turn Five Blocks," "Please Bear With Us." For months, backhoes and bulldozers have crunched and gnawed, shaking the ground like modern dinosaurs.

Controversy over a proposed $300-million construction project along West Hollywood's famed Sunset Strip has taken a new turn after its developer was identified in a court decision as a possible suspect in drug dealing that led to a 1978 Nevada murder. Mark Siffin, developer of the Sunset Millennium project, was identified by the Nevada Supreme Court in a January opinion as appearing in police reports more than 20 years ago as an alleged "major cocaine trafficker."

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled that the city of West Hollywood complied with the California Environmental Quality Act in its review of the $300-million Sunset Millennium Project. The ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed by Save Our Strip and other area residents who have opposed the retail, office and hotel project on Sunset Boulevard.

The road to their financial ruin is paved with good intentions. That's what dozens of West Hollywood merchants are saying as a $35-million project to turn their city's main street into "the Champs-Elysees of the West" plows along. Some businessmen say they are on the verge of closing because shoppers are scared off by torn-up pavement and sidewalks along a three-mile stretch of Santa Monica Boulevard that is midway through a two-year beautification effort.

The fire engines fit nicely in the roomy new building. The firefighters say they're the ones who don't fit in. That was the way things seemed Monday morning as firefighters moved into West Hollywood's controversial new $6-million showpiece fire station. Painters were still finishing up inside the glitzy redwood-and-glass trimmed Station No. 7 at the corner of Cynthia Street and San Vicente Boulevard when firefighters rolled up in their truck.

A consulting firm hired by West Hollywood has recommended 118 structures as possible city landmarks, including a number of modest turn-of-the-century houses that are architectural relics of the once-thriving railroad community of Sherman. But some property owners whose homes are on the list are angry, complaining that the city's proposed historic preservation plan could prevent development of their properties, and thus ruin their value.

The Community Development Commission is offering grants and low-interest loans to help business owners rehabilitate commercial buildings on the city's eastside, officials said. New and expanding businesses located in the East Side Redevelopment Project Area are eligible for grants of up to $25,000 and loans of up to $75,000, said Allyne Winderman, economic development and housing manager.

The Los Angeles City Council sheepishly backed away from a threatened lawsuit against West Hollywood on Wednesday, agreeing instead to a series of traffic improvements around that city's first large new development on the Sunset Strip. Rather than engender ill feeling with their neighbor, Los Angeles lawmakers said they would accept $485,000 in improvements pledged by the developer and other assurances from West Hollywood city officials.

Los Angeles, infamous both for its colossal traffic jams and some colossally bad developments, will consider suing West Hollywood today to stop that city's first major project on the Sunset Strip. It's a classic David and Goliath tale. This time, David is the young city with dollar signs in its eyes battling Goliath, the prickly, oversized neighbor threatening to fight with all its might if its concerns over increased congestion are not assuaged.