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Westwood finds friends in many places

By Daily Bruin Staff

Nov. 19, 1996 9:00 p.m.

Wednesday, November 20, 1996

COMMUNITY:

Organization meets to discuss revitalization efforts in
neighborhoodBy Rachel Munoz

Daily Bruin Contributor

Friends of Westwood, an all-volunteer, regional land-use
organization, held their annual meeting at the Westwood Macy’s
third floor tea room Nov. 14.

The meeting covered current Westwood issues, including the
Village Center Westwood, a new movie mall designed to revitalize
the village; the proposal to convert Santa Monica Boulevard into a
freeway; the removal of a billboard on major crossroads; and the
proposed street lighting renovations for Westwood.

Concerned residents and politicians in attendance included Laura
Lake, founder and president of Friends of Westwood; Ira Smedra,
developer of yet-to-be-approved Village Center Westwood; Mike Feuer
and Ruth Galanter, council members; and Catherine Rich, head of the
Historic Lamppost Task Force for Friends of Westwood.

The Village Center Westwood is slated for completion in the year
2000 near Macy’s. The new movie mall, if approved by Westwood
Village Design Board, would contain 4,700 additional movie seats,
surpassing the legal limit of 6,042 that the Village already
has.

Jeffrey Kalban, chairman of the Westwood Village Design Board,
stated that the "Smedra project," as it has been termed, has yet to
be formally introduced to his board.

"It has been presented informally," Kalban said in a statement
last month. "At that time, the members of the Westwood Village
Design Review Board stated many serious concerns with the scale and
design of the ‘Smedra Project.’ These concerns have not been
addressed as of yet by the developer."

According to the Friends of Westwood, this 5-acre mall on
Glendon Avenue would be housed in a 112-foot-high building,
possibly violating height limits and closing off one of the few
remaining through streets to Wilshire Boulevard.

"A movie mall is not what the village needs," Lake expressed at
last week’s meeting. Friends of Westwood, although they support
revitalization, would like to see development within the city’s
standards while preserving the charm of the Village.

Friends of Westwood has planned an emergency meeting for Dec. 10
to further address this project.

Smedra attended the annual meeting but did not speak on behalf
of his project.

Another issue raised at the Thursday meeting addressed the
recent Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) proposals to
transform Santa Monica Boulevard into a freeway.

The minimum proposal consists of a eight-lane freeway beginning
at the 405 Freeway and extending to Moreno Drive in Beverly Hills,
with four lanes going west and four lanes going east.Construction
is expected to begin in two years and may eliminate all or part of
Little Santa Monica, Friends of Westwood said.

Council member Galanter admitted that this issue is "a problem
that needs a solution," and encouraged the residents to "be as
clear as they can with the MTA" concerning what they would like to
see as a possible outcome.

As of September, Friends of Westwood has requested drawings from
the MTA but has yet to receive them. Lake and her organization
believe a freeway is not the answer to the traffic problem on the
boulevard.

On a less controversial note, the town meeting honored the
restaurant Koo Koo Roo for its leadership in challenging a
billboard at Sepulveda Boulevard and Little Santa Monica
Boulevard.

Friends of Westwood partnered with the restaurant, and with the
help of California Sen. Tom Hayden, Assemblyman Wally Knox and
Council member Galanter, had the billboard removed and announced
the October victory at the meeting.

"(The victory) signals the fact that communities that know their
rights can stop visual blight. It also underscores the positive
results of the business community uniting with the residential
community for common purpose," Lake said the day the decision was
announced.

Galanter commented on the billboard issue, saying she seconded
Feuer’s proposal for a moratorium on billboards, which would
authorize a delay of one year on the placement of more billboards
in the area.

Feuer described billboards as "a visual blight" and said he is
committed to getting rid of them.

Street lighting in the village was the last major issue covered
at the meeting. The Bureau of Street Lighting has identified
Westwood as a neighborhood with deteriorated lighting, and in
reaction, the city of Los Angeles has told the neighborhood they
will have to accept modern "cobra head" light poles or pay to a
have a different system in its place.

Rich expressed at the meeting that the historic lampposts should
remain in place to "make the city more car friendly" and keep the
"neighborhood ambience."

During an open forum conducted by Feuer mid-meeting, an outburst
startled the attendants. Westwood resident Ronald Kaplan brought to
attention a 12-year-old neighborhood problem involving an elderly
woman and complaints of disturbing the peace.

According to Feuer, Los Angeles Police Department officers are
working with the city attorney to resolve the problem.

JON FERREY/Daily Bruin

Laura Lake, leader of the Friends of Westwood, speaks at a
meeting held in Macy’s Nov. 15.

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