ILoveLarchmontBlvd.com
A website about preserving the most charming street in LA
ILoveLarchmontBlvd.com
A website about preserving the most charming street in LA
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Larchmont Boulevard Preservation Ordinance
Councilman Tom LaBonge (CD-4) succeeding in passing a motion of the city council that imposes a 35 foot height limit on all buildings (currently the limit is 45 feet) and requires a 5 foot setback making sure our sidewalks stay nice and wide for strolling and limit the linear street frontage to 50 feet for each business thus encouraging more diverse, small-scale retail.
Click here to view LaBonge’s proposal.
Click on the icon below to read the Los Angeles City Planning Staff Report that recommended approval of the Larchmont Preservation Ordinance.
Larchmont Boulevard is the commercial spine of our neighborhood. We hope this blog will be a source of information and give you an opportunity to share your ideas about the future of the street and the surrounding neighborhood. We are neighbors just like you. We welcome your ideas and comments or Click on the stamp to send an email.
Welcome to our neighborhood
Larchmont “Q” Conditions
In 1992, the city council passed a set of restrictions designed to protect the walkable, mixed, and neighborhood-serving commercial nature of Larchmont (as distinct from destination commercial) by limiting the number of financial businesses and restaurants that could operate on the street. The restrictions, known as the “Q Conditions apply to Larchmont Blvd. between Beverly and First Street.
The “Q” Conditions are often cited regarding restaurants on Larchmont. Proponents and opponents of the conditions agree they are not perfect but there is currently no consensus on how and if they should be modified so they continue to be the only planning tool available.
Click here to view the “Q” Conditions.
Mizrahi’s Vision
Click on the following link to read more about Mr. Mizrahi’s vision for Larchmont Boulevard as reported by the Los Angeles Business Journal in June 2008 LABusinessJournalstory.html
links
City Zoning Violation Notices for Larchmont Bungalow
Click icon below to view the October 29 Order to Comply.
Click icon below to view the November 2 Notice of Intention to Revoke Permit.
City Attorney’s Criminal Complaint CriminalComplaint_Filed Copy.pdf
About Us
Who are we? We’re neighbors, just like you. We’re not developers with a grand plan to turn Larchmont into a Grove wannabe. We are volunteers in our local neighborhood associations who got interested in the future of Larchmont because we live here.
About the Blog: We started this site as an information source and welcome thoughtful and appropriate comments. Since we’re not techies, we used a simple program to create this site that does not have a comment filter nor does it require you to register. As a result all the comments are anonymous which has led to some snarky personal attacks. Not surprisingly when those were removed, the commenters when ballistic and started posting their attacks on other sites. So we put them back, those that could be retrieved, and they remain there so you can see what we mean. But in retrospect we realized that was just caving into the bullying and nothing was added to the public discourse on the matter.
So from now on, please note that while all comments are still welcome, since we respect your right to disagree. We reserve the right to delete comments that are abusive, contain swearing designed to offend, are deliberately aimed at attacking others or are troll-like, that is to say primarily intended to provoke others into an emotional response or otherwise disrupt the normal on-topic discussion. And if the authors of those comments choose to post their lies elsewhere, so be it. At least they have to do a bit more work to be mean!
Patricia Lombard
Steve Lewis
Patricia Carroll
We welcome you to join us!
Support LBA Members
Just because you don’t own property on Larchmont doesn’t mean you aren’t entitled to voice in what happens on the street. There’s no better way to express what you want to see on the street than by supporting, and especially not supporting, businesses that contribute to our neighborhood.
Please show your support for the members of the Larchmont Blvd. Association, who have invested thousands of dollars in maintaining the street over the years. Look for the LBA decal in their windows, or the ilovelarchmontblvd.com symbol.
To be vibrant Larchmont needs to have a variety of businesses that offer consumers places to eat, shop, run errands etc. Larchmont is a special place because it was developed as a neighborhood serving street so there’s limited parking that serves the commercial businesses, extra parking flows into the nearby streets something residents experience annual during the Larchmont Family Fair.
Spread the word to others who care about preserving a neighborhood-serving mix of retail stores and restaurants on Larchmont. Please show your support for the members of the Larchmont Blvd. Association, who have invested thousands of dollars in maintaining the street over the years. Look for the LBA decal in their windows, or the ilovelarchmontblvd.com symbol.
Shop with an ilovelarchmontblvd re-usable tote made from recycled materials!
The tote comes in four colors (black, white, yellow and red) -- $4 Available at Picket Fences & Landis General Store!
Vote with your pocketbook and support Larchmont Blvd businesses who care about the street. Support the members of the Larchmont Blvd Association who pay for the trash removal and street cleaning in addition to working hard to serve you!
Look for the LBA decal in their shop window or the iLoveLarchmontBlvd.com decal.
Click the icon below to view the permit and agreement the Bungalow owners signed agreeing not to have any seating for dining.
Click CovenantFloorPlan107N.Larch.pdf to view the floor plan.
Finally, the verdict is in! The court upheld the city’s enforcement action against the Larchmont Bungalow after more than two years of legal wrangling.
All the while, the Bungalow has been operating but their days are numbered. Bungalow owners can appeal the ruling, which could take approximately 18 months, or they could apply for a variance which would involve a public planning process, or they could operate as they promised they would in the summer of 2009 -- a retail store with take-out food.
The city cited the Bungalow almost immediately after it opened in October 2009. After the Bungalow lost an administrative appeal in December, the city revoked their certificate of occupancy. When the Bungalow still failed to comply with city orders, City Attorney Carmen Trutanich filed criminal charges against Mizrahi. The criminal case was put on hold when Mizrahi filed a civil action against the city claiming it had improperly revoked his permit. Now that the civil case has been decided in the city's favor, presumably the criminal case will move forward. The next court date for the Bungalow is January 20, 2012.
A lot has happened on the street since the Bungalow owner Albert Mizrahi started buying up Larchmont real estate but not much has been good. Most of his properties are empty, or house businesses operated by his son. Mizrahi and cleared out so many beloved businesses, including Larchmont Hardware. With his realtor cronies, he’s tried to convince other building owners to raise rents so he can justify his own valuations on properties he purchased at peak prices before the economy collapsed in 2008.
Mizrahi owns over 20,000 square feet on the street but has no vision. All he’s done is add more food and cheap retail clothing.
Larchmont has much more potential than Mizrahi has imagination. It’s up to us to create the street we want.
Even if we don’t own property, we are vital to the street. We can choose to support the businesses we want to see thrive on the street. Vote with your feet -- boycott the Bungalow and his other businesses and support the ones you care about. Many, but not all, support the street through the Larchmont Blvd Association.
Bungalow Loses - City Wins